Easy Read Online Year in Review
- Lewis
- Dec 18
- 5 min read
We’re coming to the end of 2025, a busy and dynamic year for Easy Read Online! Here are some of the highlights of our 2025.
Easy Read standards
We have been collaborating with several other Easy Read producers to formalise some industry standards for the creation of Easy Read. At the moment, there is a wide variation in what an ‘Easy Read’ document can look like.
The national Easy Read standards should help to make Easy Read a more uniform format, which both end users and commissioners know will be effective and high quality.
The standards are currently being trialled by different Easy Read producers, and we are expecting the standards to be finalised in early 2026. Watch this space!
Easy Read Online apprenticeship
In September, we began partnering with Manchester Metropolitan University to support our apprentice, Presley, on a degree apprenticeship. Over the next three years, he will study part-time while working with Easy Read Online on digital accessibility.
Presley tells us a bit about how the apprenticeship is going so far:
I’m currently doing a Digital and Technology Solutions degree apprenticeship at Manchester Metropolitan University, where I spend one day a week learning about coding, upcoming digital technologies, and how these can be applied in my job.
My apprenticeship is going really well – it’s been a positive experience where I’m benefiting from both the learning and the practical aspects. I really enjoy having one day at university, helping to break up the week, and I’m feeling more motivated and supported in my role. I’ve developed coding skills in Java and some theoretical understanding of digital technology in organisations, including things like stakeholder theory and critical writing.
At work, alongside my everyday tasks, I’ve recently joined a digital technology working group, and I’m developing a quoting tool. The apprenticeship has massively boosted my confidence in both coding and teamwork, and I’m hoping to build lots more coding and data skills in the future.
Feedback from our clients
We always value feedback from clients. Here are a few examples of what we heard from our clients this year!
We’ve been very happy with the service received from ERO – you produce a high quality product within tight timescales. We find everyone we deal with helpful and professional.
- The Department of Justice NI
Your team always responded to our comments swiftly and promptly, and produced drafts of high quality. This was no easy task given the technical and complex nature of the document.
- Wokingham Borough Council
Working with Easy Read Online has been a genuinely positive experience for us. They took great care to understand our values, our voice, and the specific needs of the survivors and supporters of survivors who use our resources.Throughout the process, all changes were made quickly and communicated clearly at every stage, so we knew what to expect next.
Most importantly, the Easy Read Online Team helped us adapt our booklets in a way that makes the information easier to follow without losing sensitivity or meaning.
We now have additional resources that are accessible, trauma-aware and aligned with our values and purpose.
- National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC)
Guide on how to share Easy Read documents
In June, we introduced a new resource: a quick guide titled ‘How to Make the Most of Your Easy Read Document’. We now share this with clients once their final Easy Read document is complete. This initiative came about after multiple clients approached us for advice about how to increase engagement with their Easy Read versions of information.
While our full guide to commissioning and sharing Easy Read versions of your organisation's information offers a deeper dive, we’ve also created a practical checklist outlining where and how you can share your Easy Read content:
Make your Easy Read versions of information easy to find, as easy as the main version of your information!
Make sure people are aware that you provide Easy Read versions of your information.
Announce your Easy Read information on your organisation’s social media.
Reach out to local self-advocacy groups and disability groups to promote your Easy Read information.
Train your team so that all staff members feel confident sharing Easy Read versions of information when asked.
For help with making your information more inclusive, take a look at our guide to commissioning and sharing Easy Read versions of your organisation's information
Feedback from Easy Read users
If you are familiar with our newsletter or our ethos at Easy Read Online, you will know that continuous improvement is at the heart of everything we do. We are always evolving our Easy Read work to better meet the needs of our end users and to give our clients confidence that the accessible information they share is truly fit for purpose.
Our latest step forward came this April: we launched a brand new user feedback survey specifically for Easy Read end users. A link to the survey now appears at the beginning of our Easy Read documents, giving readers the opportunity to tell us what they think of our Easy Read.
We are excited about the potential of this new feature - it allows us to hear from people we haven’t yet had the chance to co-produce with, and we hope it will lead to even more meaningful improvements in the future.
Survey engagement success story
An NHS Trust asked us to create an Easy Read version of a patient letter being sent to those on the waiting list for a hospital operation or procedure. The original letter followed delays caused by COVID and asked patients to confirm whether they wished to remain on the waiting list or be removed, for instance, if they no longer needed the procedure.
The Trust was so impressed with how clearly our Easy Read version conveyed the message - more effectively than the original letter - that they decided to make it the primary version for all patients, not just those with a learning disability.
The result was a record number of patient responses, with many specifically commenting on how easy the letter was to understand. This shows the powerful impact of clear, accessible communication, both in increasing engagement and in making sure that patients who rely on Easy Read information feel recognised and included.
Disability Pride Month
Disability Pride Month was in July, and it was an important moment for disabled people to come together as a community. Disability Pride Month is an opportunity to share experiences and start conversations. It’s a celebration of the creativity, resilience, and achievements of disabled people.
As part of Disability Pride Month, one of our team members, Becky, wrote a blog about how organisations can become more accessible. You can read it here:
Expanded service offer
Did you know we also help our clients translate Easy Read documents into different languages? Our process starts with creating the Easy Read version in English. From there, we translate the Easy Read text into the requested language, then format it to match the original Easy Read layout before delivering the final version to the client.
This approach has proven successful time and again, and we’ve helped translate Easy Read documents into a wide range of languages, including Polish, Farsi, Punjabi, and many more.
This year, we have also started to offer two new services: Plain English documents and British Sign Language translations.
Plain English provides simplified translations, while being at a more advanced reading level than Easy Read. There are generally no images used in Plain English documents, and there are more sentences on the page.
We also work with a British Sign Language translator who can sign the content of a document and produce a recorded video which can then be accessed by the end user!
Remember, Easy Read Online can help if you need:
Easy Read translations.
Plain English translations.
Original documents to be made compliant with web accessibility standards.
Easy Read documents that you’d like to be checked by people with lived experience.
Other accessibility features or formats.
