Top tips for creating easy read surveys
Give a brief easy read summary of why you are asking people to complete the survey.
Include your intended demographic from the start, co-production is always best.
Always have “I don’t know” as an answer option.
If you are asking for how often a person does something, always give options and a box to write in e.g.:
once a week
once a month
other
Tick boxes with an option to add information is the best format.
Easy read isn’t just about taking standard information and adding pictures. Think about which questions are most important to be answered and if the question applies to the people you are aiming the survey at.
If questions are very similar, please think about how you can only ask it once. They may seem very different to you but when people look at them they may feel like they have already answered it.
Please explain if you are asking a question about something people might not know about. For example, if you are asking about council tax, explain what that is and put the word in bold.
Council tax is a bill that each household pays. It goes to North Yorkshire Council to help pay for services including adult social care, police and keeping areas clean and tidy. Do you think everyone should pay more council tax?
If you are asking how happy people are with something, please do not give more than 3 options. For example,
Happy/ok
Unhappy/bad
Don’t know/not sure
Please do not have more than 10 pages in the survey or 20 questions.
Sometimes people find it hard to think about things that haven’t happened to them or haven’t happened yet.
Please remember this when you ask questions like “in the future…”
Please let people know what will happen after they have completed the survey and when it will happen by. You can do this by sharing information with KeyRing who will let people know local meetings or forums.
People might not be able to answer all your questions. That could be because they don’t understand the question, or they haven’t experienced something.
Please ask a person's age instead of an age range
Please ask which area a person lives in, instead of a postcode
Explain why you need this information.
Please give people a phone number that they can call if they need to ask anything. Not everyone uese the internet.
Videos can help people understand things better.
Make sure people are given plenty of time to complete the survey and return it. At least 3-4 weeks.
Percentages, maps, charts, and diagrams are not always the best way to represent information to people with learning disabilities.
