Natasha N. Jones

Plain Language in Environmental Policy Documents: An Assessment of Reader Comprehension and Perceptions:

Several government agencies are seeking quality improvement in environmental policy documents by asking for the implementation of Plain Language (PL) guidelines. Our mixed-methods research examines whether the application of certain PL guidelines affects the comprehension and perceptions of readers of environmental policy documents. Results show that the presence of pronouns affects inferential comprehension of environmental impact statement summaries (EIS summaries), but that the effect varies with the readers education level. Further, headings in question phrasing affect a readers perception of familiarity and reliability of EIS summaries. A readers perceptions of EIS summaries and attitudes toward the organizations creating the documents are also affected by overall design features. PL guidelines on the use of pronouns and question headings are not fully supported by our research and need further validation with regard to comprehension. This article ends with a call for further research.

Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Communication

ABSTRACT This article presents an antenarrative of the field of technical and professional communication. Part methodology and part practice, an antenarrative allows the work of the field to be reseen, forges new paths forward, and emboldens the field’s objectives to unabashedly embrace social justice and inclusivity as part of its core narrative. The authors present a heuristic that can usefully extend the pursuit of inclusivity in technical and professional communication.

The Technical Communicator as Advocate Integrating a Social Justice Approach in Technical Communication

This article argues for the need for a social justice approach to technical communication research and pedagogy. Given previous calls by scholars in technical and professional communication (TPC) for an attention to diversity, inclusion, and equality, the author examines the place and purpose of social justice in TPC and provides useful approaches for promoting a more genuine and critical interrogation of how work in TPC impacts the human experience.

Genetics Interfaces: Representing Science and Enacting Public Discourse in Online Spaces

This article analyzes the Web interfaces of two well-known national civic action groups, both related to genetics research: the Genetic Alliance and the Innocence Project. These two sites are excellent examples of interface design and information retrieval, and they also attempt to translate complex science to the general public, even those traditionally most underrepresented and marginalized by the complexities of science and technology. The Genetic Alliance and Innocence Project provide excellent case studies for technical communication courses about the necessity to marry factual scientific knowledge with cultural and emotional rhetorics while providing an interface for multiple stakeholders in public policy change.

Narrative Inquiry in Human-Centered Design Examining Silence and Voice to Promote Social Justice in Design Scenarios

Human-centered design is a burgeoning field of study that has the potential to work toward actively creating more just and equitable technology design while critically interrogating the design process. To do this, human-centered design needs to consider making social justice aims a primary objective and end-goal in design. One way of integrating social justice aims into design is to employ the use of narrative inquiry. This article explores an alternative method for developing design scenarios using narrative inquiry and the feminist concepts of silence and voice as a way to promote considerations of social justice and inclusion in design. Using narrative inquiry to rethink certain aspects of the design process can help designers address issues of agency. The methodological focus of this article responds to Suchman’s call for “alternative visions” of how technology production and design can be undertaken.

Multimodality in the Technical Communication Classroom: Viewing Classical Rhetoric Through a 21st Century Lens

The authors provide a robust framework for using rhetorical foundations to teach multimodality in technical communication, describing a pedagogical approach wherein students consider the rhetorical canons—invention, arrangement, style, delivery, and memory—when developing texts beyond print. Students learn to assess their own work, reflecting on how each canon contributed to the rhetorical effectiveness of their multimodal projects. The authors argue for using the canons as a rhetorical foundation for helping students understand technical communication in the digital age.

Found Things: Genre, Narrative, and Identification in a Networked Activist Organization

ABSTRACT This article examines the inter-relational role of genre and narrative in a social justice organization. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, this test presents a process-centered approach using genre ecology modeling and narrative maps. This approach can help scholars understand how genre and narrative dialectically promote collaboration and coordination while simultaneously promoting the process of consubstantiality and rhetorical identification in networked organizations.

Examining usability in the communication design of health wearables

This panel consists of six case studies that investigate how emerging contexts for use created by health wearables present UX designers with challenges related to agency, surveillance, and health outcomes, as wearables assess the body in new, potentially unforeseen ways.

Rhetorical Narratives of Black Entrepreneurs: The Business of Race, Agency, and Cultural Empowerment

Using cultural empowerment as a conceptual framework, this study emphasizes the interrelated role of culture, rhetorical agency, and empowerment in discursive analysis and communicative practice. Twelve black business owners were interviewed using a narrative inquiry approach. Thematic analysis revealed that these entrepreneurs enacted rhetorical agency in ways that work within oppressive systems and resisted damaging dominate discourses about black businesses. By highlighting the rhetorical narratives of black entrepreneurs, this study also addresses the need for a more culturally sensitive approach in business, professional, and organizational communication.

The Social Justice Impact of Plain Language: A Critical Approach to Plain-Language Analysis

Introduction: This study investigates how plain language, examined from a social justice perspective, is implemented in mortgage documents and what the implications are for African-American homebuyers. About the case: We argue that plain language has the potential to engage issues of human dignity and human rights because language accessibility in documents plays a large role in how citizens engage in civic and social activities. In regard to the home ownership process, in which African-American homebuyers are more likely to experience discrimination, we need a study of the implementation of plain language in documents that might contribute to communication breakdowns between the banking industry and this historically marginalized group. Situating the case: We examine plain language from a social-justice stance by turning a more critical eye toward how and why plain-language guidelines are implemented. Methods/approach: Our study focused on the initial disclosure statements for adjustable-rate mortgages. We paired critical discourse analysis with the Securities and Exchange Commissions Plain English Handbook guidelines for disclosure statements to analyze three disclosure statements. Results/discussion: We found that, generally speaking, each of the three disclosure statements effectively adhered to plain-language recommendations. However, the idea that plain language increases accessibility, reader comprehension, and usability is complicated, and the accessibility and usability of each document varied. Conclusions: We advocate for a human-centered approach that explores ways that plain-language guidelines can be applied along with a critical focus on amplifying agency and reducing inequity.