Method for Evaluating the Use of Plain Language in Interfaces of Public Service Portals

Digital transformation movements are rapidly changing how governments around the world provide services to Society and have increased challenges on how citizens of different profiles and backgrounds can gain greater independence in accessing these services, through friendlier and better understandable digital interfaces. The presentation of government services in a legible and intelligible way is the first step towards a complete understanding of what the service is about, who can request it, what documentation is needed, what are the requirements, what is the step-by-step, and how the service is governed by regulations. Government agencies that have been implementing plain language in the presentation of digital services are developing plain language guides seeking to improve this greater citizen understandability to improve user experience, accessibility, and inclusion. The motto is to share information that people can find, understand, and use. In this regard, ABEPTIC (Brazilian Association of State Entities of Information and Communication Technology), responsible for implementing the public service portals of all the states in Brazil, led the development of the Plain Language Guide that presents practices that can help in the construction, organization, and presentation of information, whether represented by texts, figures, graphs, models, or other forms. This paper presents a method for the evaluation of Plain Language practices from the Plain Language Guide, based on theories about evaluation methods from the Human-Computer Interface (HCI) domain of research that served as a pilot for the first national evaluation which will be used as a basis for creating the Brazilian Plain Language Index. The results showed the need for all 27 Brazilian Federative Units and its more than 5,000 municipalities to invest in actions to clarify the understanding of the services offered in their respective citizen service Portals.