Easy Read was created for people with learning disabilities. That's who it's for. And lately, we've been watching that get quietly eroded.

It starts with good intentions. "Easy Read is useful for lots of people!" And it's true - clear information helps everyone. But somewhere along the way, "useful for lots of people" becomes "designed for lots of people", and that's where the problems begin.

The drift

First, Easy Read was for people with learning disabilities. Then it became "for people with learning disabilities and autistic people". Then it expanded to include people with dementia, people with low literacy, people whose first language isn't English.

Each step seems reasonable on its own. But look at where it leads.

When you design for everyone, you design for no one in particular. The images start featuring fewer people with learning disabilities - because you're appealing to a "broader audience". The language drifts towards the general population. The specificity that made Easy Read work gets sanded down.

And the people it was created for? They become just another group in the list. An afterthought in their own format.

Why this matters

People with learning disabilities are already underrepresented. They struggle to see themselves reflected in the information they receive, the services they use, the world around them. Easy Read was one of the few spaces designed specifically with them in mind.

When we dilute that - even with the best intentions - we take something away from a group that already has too little.

Clear information isn't the same as Easy Read

Here's the thing: clear, accessible information is good for everyone. But that's not the same as Easy Read.

If you want clear information for a general audience, that's called plain English. If you want accessible documents that work across different needs, that's inclusive design. These are valuable things. They're just not Easy Read.

Easy Read is something specific. It has pictures - meaningful ones that support the text. It has a particular layout. It has involvement from people with learning disabilities in its creation. That specificity is what makes it work.

Our position

At Photosymbols, we've worked in this space for over thirty years. Our images feature people with learning disabilities. Our research - the Newton Project - was conducted with people with learning disabilities. The Easy Read Standard we've just published is built on what people with learning disabilities told us.

We're not going to pretend Easy Read is for everyone. It's not. It's for people with learning disabilities. And we think that's worth protecting.

If you need clear information for other audiences, we're happy to help with that too. But let's call it what it is - and let's keep Easy Read for the people it was made for.