How We Translate Official Rules Into Plain English

A page of official wording can stop a reader cold. A form or a handout may use a term with no plain reading beside it. This page explains how we handle that for readers in New Lenox.

Why we begin with primary documents

We start from primary documents, the original text itself. One example of a primary document is the United States Preventive Services Taskforce recommendation on abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. The site's focus is plain-language readings of rules, requirement documents, and official forms.

How a requirement gets cut down

We take each requirement and strip it down to what it asks of the reader. The result is a short directive. Each directive uses plain words and short sentences. The publisher is named beside every clinical statement, so you always know who wrote it.

How to check a translation against its source

You do not have to take our word for any reading. Find the publisher named beside the statement. Open that publisher's page. Look for the sentence we quote. Compare our directive with the original wording. A page such as aortic aneurysm at MedlinePlus is a place to practice this check.