Measuring the benefits in the US Navy
A US study that measured the efficiency of a business memo rewritten in plain language for navy officers found that:
- it took 17–23% less time to read
- there were significantly higher levels of understanding.
Using this data, the study calculated that at least $27 to $37 million could be saved, based on officers’ wages and the average reading time of such documents. Researchers also estimated that the US Navy could save up to $350 million each year across the board with plain language documents.