This book offers a systematic overview of Leichte Sprache (Easy Language), Einfache Sprache (Plain Language), and Leichte Sprache Plus as distinct yet functionally complementary responses to communicative barriers. At its core lies the tension between comprehensibility and acceptability: Leichte Sprache emerges as a highly visible and at times stigmatizing format; Einfache Sprache as a socially unmarked variety that, for many addressees, nevertheless provides insufficient cognitive relief; and Leichte Sprache Plus as an approach that balances the “empty middle” between the two. The book examines the standardization processes surrounding Easy and Plain Language, demonstrating how standards and specifications both institutionalize the field and simultaneously narrow the definition of target groups. It traces how barriers can be removed from texts, incorporates multimodal and oral formats, and identifies AI-supported tools as a watershed development: while they accelerate the production of texts optimized for comprehensibility, they also require rigorous quality assurance and raise new ethical questions.

This book is included in DOAB.