DSHS - Plain Language & Accessibility System

Creating a comprehensive brand style guide with plain language and accessibility rules

Reduced reading levels from postgraduate to 6–8th grade and improved task completion by building a repeatable plain-language and WCAG-aligned pattern library.

Context

Critical public-health content demanded high comprehension and compliance. Many pages were dense, policy-heavy, and inconsistent, creating barriers for general-reading audiences and assistive-technology users.

Results

  • Reading level lowered from postgraduate to 6–8th grade.

  • Task completion +40% on key journeys after rewrites and pattern adoption.

  • Drove consistent, measurable improvements that contributed to the DCI lift (60.7 → 83.5).

  • Cleaned up and edited outdated content and organized it using new and approved layouts. (i.e. Texas Center for Infectious Disease webpage)

Before

Collaboration

Worked daily with UX/UI in Figma on flow-level copy; partnered with compliance/SMEs to translate policy into user-facing guidance without losing intent.

My approach

  • Plain-language standards: Defined voice/tone, sentence structure, and glossary rules; created “before → after” patterns for headings, summaries, and link text.

  • Microcopy & forms: Established error-state, helper-text, and confirmation patterns; created microcopy and CATs for clarity and progressive disclosure.

  • Accessibility fixes: Enforced WCAG 2.0 AA practices across headings, landmarks, alt text, link purpose, and focus order; added QA steps to the editorial checklist.

  • Skill transfer: Built quick reference cards and ran working sessions so non-writers could apply the patterns.

After

Constraints

Kept legal intent intact while simplifying; when wording couldn’t change, added supporting summaries and examples to preserve clarity.