One of the most difficult things to deal with since founding The Easy Read Toolbox has been how much to charge. When it was just me at Next Level Inclusion (my previous social enterprise) it was much easier, as I just needed enough income to live off.

As soon as we became busy enough to need more people, pricing has become harder. Ensuring we are recognised for our expertise as disabled Easy Read writers, now plays a part too. The Toolbox was set up to provide a more cost-effective option for not for profits, sole traders and more, but we also had a mandate to pay disabled people fair rates as we operate. Personally, I have always struggled to know what my worth is, even while I’d have no trouble helping someone else to work out theirs (thank you imposter syndrome!)

Even so, it can feel arduous to ask for thousands of dollars for a simple, short document.

Recently I was responsible for completing a client project from start to finish – usually there are multiple team members participating – and it was eye-opening enough that I wanted to share!

Of course there are the usual costs like spending time with the client/s, discussing the project and getting to know their work, setting up admin and so on, just like any other service. At this point I ask for the document and assess the word count as well as the complexity and readability of it. It is also helpful to read other related documents.

Then I (as we all work slightly differently!) start to think about the intended audience for the documents and their needs, and if there are ways I can appropriately apply some ‘branding’ to the documents. By branding I mean giving them a look and tone that fits both Easy Read requirements, the needs of the audience and the culture of the client (or, as it often is, the client’s client). This requires researching the client, their logos, brand colours, voice and more. I also decide on the structure and style of the document – a formal report follows a more involved format than a simple 2 page information sheet, for instance.

Unlike most of our team, I tend to jump straight in to writing – They will spend time reading the document and planning out their structure and inclusions. I seem to do better working through and adjusting content and order as I go.

The most recent document was originally 2 pages long with just over 800 words. The team had worked to make it simpler, succeeding with a reading ease score of 88.4 where 100 is easiest, and a grade level of year 4-5. One quarter of the document was written in passive sentences – not used in Easy Read. The turnaround time was a brief 24 hours (we usually require at least a couple of weeks!!)

Their hard work made my job of writing much easier, but I still spent around 6-7 hours working on the words alone. Usually I will have previous paragraphs I can borrow for a new document, but in this case the topic was not one we had written about before. Some research was required to ensure I understood the people and concepts involved, to best translate the text.

This project was for a specific audience, where I needed to be mindful of the images I used, so I created 99% of the images used in this Easy Read document. Images for Easy Read are an incredibly important element, adding context to the text, supporting readers to understand what they are reading. They must convey their message quickly and clearly.

Image style depends on the intended audience and purpose. A government department, for instance, is usually done with photos in a more formal style. A document for young people might use an anime or cartoon style, while a business-related document might use crisp icons. Side note: We have all these styles and more available in our image bank.

For this audience, we were aiming at young people and their families, but we needed a slightly more formal appearance than anime or cartoons would give.

It ended up taking me around 10-12 hours to complete the 50+ images for this project.  That seems like much longer than it should take – but is only 12 minutes per image! Of course, some images didn’t work as I’d envisioned and needed editing, but given the skill required to translate the written message into a ‘simple’ image, 12 minutes each is speedy and down to my experience in doing this for years now.

Once I’m happy with the overall look and content, I have my team read it and give feedback. We didn’t have time for peer review by our Feedback Group with this document, which strengthens documents even more – but adds around a week or so to production time, and several hours of my time to manage that process.

The document then goes to the client, and comes back for (usually) minor editing, accessibility checks and remediation, then we alt text for each of the 50+ images.

Finally, the document was ready – after approximately 23-25 hours of my time!! Once you include the general costs of running the business, there wasn’t much of a profit made – and remember this was only an 800–word, grade 4 reading level document, not a complex report! Of course, being a social enterprise, around 70% of our income goes straight to paying our disabled team members, including those working on our unfunded ‘passion’ project ELSEY (Easy Life Skills for Every Youth).

What did we end up with though? What did the client receive?

The Easy Read document had:

• 50+ custom designed images
• A 14-page document with just over 1000 words (more on this soon)
• Similar reading ease and readability scores to the original document, yet is easier to read physically, and comprehend
• And only 5% passive sentences.

The client said: “...it is excellent and we can definitely see the benefit of your approach.” Of course we won’t see the true effectiveness until the audience gives feedback. We will then integrate that feedback into future work with that client, and each repeat project with them will be more streamlined.

If we can help you with your Easy Read and accessible communication needs please get in touch – we love our work!