The internet should be accessible to everyone. That means more than removing technical barriers. It also means ensuring that content is understandable by every person. That is precisely the goal of Easy-to-Read language – known in French as FALC (Facile à Lire et à Comprendre) and in German as Leichte Sprache.
In Luxembourg, many people struggle to understand official communications, websites or administrative documents. The reasons are varied: intellectual disability, dyslexia, older age, insufficient language skills, stress or cognitive overload.
In this article, I explain what Easy-to-Read language is, why it matters strategically for your organisation, and how Key4.lu can help you put it into practice.
What is Easy-to-Read language? Definition and relevance in Luxembourg
Easy-to-Read: a method recognised across Europe
Easy-to-Read is a method designed to translate standard language into simplified, accessible content. It makes information clearer and more understandable, useful for everyone, and especially for people with intellectual disabilities, dyslexia, older age or limited language skills. For a text to officially qualify as Easy-to-Read, it must have been reviewed and approved as understandable by people with intellectual disabilities.
Easy-to-Read goes beyond a simplified writing style. It follows a precise set of rules: short sentences, everyday vocabulary, one idea per sentence, supporting illustrations. These rules are formalised in the ISO standard 24495-1 for plain language. For the German Leichte Sprache, the DIN SPEC 33429 provides the framework – technically a specification (Empfehlung), meaning a normative recommendation rather than a fully official standard in the strict sense.
The Luxembourg reality: a uniquely multilingual context
Luxembourg holds a unique position in Europe. Four languages coexist in public life: Luxembourgish, French, German and English. This diversity multiplies the risks of communicative exclusion.
Klaro is working in collaboration with the Centre for the Luxembourgish Language (ZLS) to develop rules for Easy-to-Read in Luxembourgish. As part of a call for projects from the Ministry of Digitalisation, a project was selected in 2024 to develop an AI-assisted tool for producing Easy-to-Read content. However, all texts still require human verification before they can be approved.
In Luxembourg, both the German and French variants coexist and complement each other. German Leichte Sprache remains highly present, particularly because the reviewing team at the Atelier isie works primarily in that language. French FALC is gaining ground alongside the growing Francophone population, and Klaro recommends providing both versions where the target audience justifies it.
What Luxembourg law requires
Two pieces of legislation frame the obligations in Luxembourg:
- The Act of 28 May 2019 requires all public sector bodies to make their websites and mobile applications accessible. The comprehensibility of content is explicitly part of this requirement.
- The Act of 8 March 2023, Luxembourg’s transposition of European Directive 2019/882 (the European Accessibility Act), extends these obligations to private companies. Online content and printed materials must be understandable — meaning written in plain and clear language.
The concrete benefits of Easy-to-Read for your organisation
Reaching a wider audience
In Europe, 87 million people live with a disability. In Luxembourg, a significant share of the population is affected — older people, people with cognitive impairments, newcomers still learning the language.
Easy-to-Read content does not only serve people with disabilities. It benefits anyone under pressure, fatigued or unfamiliar with your field. Accessibility experts call this the “curb-cut effect”: a solution designed for the most challenging cases improves the experience for everyone.
Reducing misunderstandings and errors
In healthcare, social services, public administration and finance, failing to understand a document can have serious consequences. A misread medication leaflet, a form filled in incorrectly, an electoral notice ignored — these are all avoidable situations.
Clear text reduces requests for clarification, processing errors and the human and administrative costs that follow.
Meeting legal obligations and avoiding sanctions
The law transposing the European Accessibility Act provides for the possibility of banning a non-compliant product or service from the market, and lists both administrative and criminal sanctions.
Implementing Easy-to-Read language is no longer simply a good practice. It is an obligation — and non-compliance can prove very costly.
Strengthening your image and positioning
An organisation that communicates clearly projects an image of trustworthiness. It shows respect for the people it serves. At a time of growing distrust towards institutions, linguistic clarity is a powerful signal of civic commitment and ethical responsibility.
For associations, social organisations and public bodies, it is also a matter of consistency with the inclusion values they stand for.
How Key4.lu helps you implement accessible web content
I have been working in digital accessibility in Luxembourg for several years. My approach combines technical expertise with editorial know-how. That said, to use the Easy-to-Read logo that certifies a text meets the standard, certain principles must be followed.
The core principles of Easy-to-Read language
Writing in Easy-to-Read requires more than a simplified style. The text must be restructured in depth: removing what is superfluous, adding missing context, reformulating every idea. Expect roughly 2 hours of work per 500 words — considerably more than standard writing.
The essential rules cover four levels:
- Vocabulary: common words, immediate explanation of technical terms, no abbreviations, one word for one thing.
- Sentences: short, one idea per sentence, Subject–Verb–Object structure, active voice, positive phrasing.
- Structure: most important information first, one paragraph = one idea, clear subheadings, concrete everyday examples.
- Layout: left-aligned text, sans-serif font, generous line spacing, no hyphenation, no italics, images and pictograms to support meaning.
A quick example. Original sentence: “The monthly account statement allows the balance evolution to be monitored.” In Easy-to-Read: “Every month, you receive a bank statement. It shows how much money is left in your account.”
Having your text professionally translated and validated
A text written in Easy-to-Read must be reviewed by people with intellectual disabilities before it can carry the official Inclusion Europe logo. This logo is the recognised quality mark across Europe.
In Luxembourg, this process goes through Klaro, the official competence centre for Easy-to-Read language, affiliated with APEMH. Klaro forwards texts to the Atelier Isie, whose team members — people with intellectual disabilities who are paid for this work — assess whether the text is genuinely understandable and suggest improvements. An exchange between authors and reviewers is often needed. A second review may be required if substantial changes are made.
For texts related to tourism, the reviewing group Op der Schock is an alternative.
About me
I am Gérard Kieffer, a digital accessibility expert and IT trainer accredited by the Ministry of Education. With over 20 years of experience in web development, I bring expertise and passion for the digital world to every web project and into my training courses about digtal accessibility.
For me, accessibility goes beyond simply complying with technical standards. Through my work with people with disabilities and in the field of intercultural inclusion, I understand who we are creating accessible communication for and how essential it is for everyone to participate in everyday life.
FAQ – Your questions about Easy-to-Read language in Luxembourg
What is the difference between Easy-to-Read and plain language?
Easy-to-Read (FALC in French, Leichte Sprache in German) is the most accessible level. It follows strict rules: short sentences (practical guides generally recommend no more than around ten words), one message per sentence, illustrations required, and review by people with intellectual disabilities.
Plain language (Einfache Sprache in German) is less restrictive. Sentences can run up to 25 words, the genitive case is allowed, footnotes too. It corresponds to level B1. It is easier to produce, but not accessible to everyone who needs Easy-to-Read. The two approaches are complementary, not interchangeable.
Is Easy-to-Read mandatory in Luxembourg?
Directly, no — no text explicitly requires content to be written in Easy-to-Read. Indirectly, however, yes. The Act of 8 March 2023 requires that online content and printed materials be understandable — meaning in plain and clear language. This obligation applies to companies with more than 10 employees or an annual turnover exceeding 2 million euros. For public sector bodies, the Act of 28 May 2019 has applied since 2020.
Which organisations in Luxembourg offer Easy-to-Read reviews?
In Luxembourg, there are currently two reviewing groups for Easy-to-Read language: the Atelier isie of APEMH (reviewing texts in German, French and English), and the Op der Schock reviewing group, specialising in the tourism sector. The CC-CDI also has an Easy-to-Read service, but it is reserved for the school sector. Review by these groups is essential to affix the official Inclusion Europe logo to your documents.
What types of content can be translated into Easy-to-Read?
Practically anything. The most common applications in Luxembourg involve administrative documents, electoral notices, social information brochures, medication leaflets, institutional websites and training materials. Guichet.lu already provides information in Easy-to-Read on accessibility, financial assistance, family, housing, health, transport and employment. This is an example worth following for any organisation that deals with the public.
What is the Easy-to-Read logo and how can you obtain it?
The Easy-to-Read logo is a quality mark created by Inclusion Europe. It certifies that the text has been reviewed and approved by at least one person with an intellectual disability. It is recognised throughout Europe and allows people who need it to immediately identify accessible content. To use it, Inclusion Europe does not require prior permission, provided the publication follows Easy-to-Read rules and credits the source (“© European Easy-to-Read Logo: Inclusion Europe”). In practice in Luxembourg, the recommended — and quality-assured — route is review by the Atelier isie of APEMH, whose team members are the true guarantors of text accessibility.
Can AI be used to produce Easy-to-Read content?
Artificial intelligence can help simplify texts or generate a first draft. A project selected in 2024 as part of a call for projects from the Ministry of Digitalisation aims to develop an AI tool for Luxembourgish Easy-to-Read. Initial results are promising, but all texts still require human verification before approval. It is also worth noting that, in a first phase, this tool will be reserved for government bodies and will not be available to private or non-profit organisations. AI is a helpful tool, not a substitute for human expertise — or for review by the people it is meant to serve.
How can Easy-to-Read be integrated into a digital communication strategy?
Start by identifying high-impact content: your homepage, contact forms, service pages and urgent communications. Rewrite these as a priority. Then train your teams so that the approach becomes sustainable. Incorporate readability checks into your publishing process – as a matter of course, just like spelling checks.
Conclusion: act now, for all your readers
Easy-to-Read language is not an additional constraint. It is an opportunity to make your content more effective, more inclusive and more compliant with the legal requirements in force in Luxembourg. Every simplified text means one more reader who understands your message and can act on it.