How to create accessible text with ChatGPT that people can act on

Start with the reader's job, not a reading score

Accessible text helps a person find, understand and use information. That person may be tired, use a screen reader, read in a second language, or find a long paragraph difficult to follow. Their needs will not all be the same. Start with a task: apply for a service, borrow an item, follow an instruction or understand a choice. A page that explains everything about an organization but hides how to apply may be easy to read sentence by sentence and still be hard to use.

Tell ChatGPT what a successful reader should be able to do. For a booking notice, success might mean finding the booking deadline and understanding whether a request is confirmed. For a return policy, it might mean identifying the time limit and the items excluded. Use those tasks to choose what comes first. A reading score can suggest that wording is complex, but it cannot tell you whether the correct deadline is clear or a reader has been sent to the right form.

Protect the meaning before simplifying the words

Create a short list of facts that cannot change. Include dates, times, amounts, quantities, conditions, exceptions, who is responsible and what is promised. Copy exact definitions when the wording has an official role. For instance, an application received by a deadline is different from an application approved by that deadline. The rewrite needs to preserve that difference. Ask ChatGPT to extract these facts, then compare the list yourself with the source. A missed fact at this stage can disappear from every later version.

Keep unknown information separate. If the source never says whether there is a fee, the assistant should ask about the fee or leave it unresolved. It must not write free just because that sounds helpful. If the deadline gives a time but no timezone for remote readers, flag the missing timezone. Some text cannot be made fully useful through rewriting alone because its underlying policy is incomplete. A good result makes that gap easier to resolve instead of covering it with friendly language.

Teaching example: a difficult equipment-loan notice

The notice below is invented for this guide. It is not a real service policy or a recorded ChatGPT response. It is intentionally dense so we can compare a source, a proposed rewrite and a meaning check. The task is for an adult reader to request equipment from a community loan desk. The aim is to remove unnecessary difficulty while keeping the actual restrictions. We will not create new contact information or claim that an application will be accepted.

Invented original notice
Eligible adult residents may submit an equipment-loan request for a maximum of two items, excluding those designated restricted, for a period not exceeding seven calendar days. Requests must be received by 16:00 on Tuesday for collection that Thursday. Submission does not constitute confirmation. Applicants will receive a confirmation or refusal email by Wednesday at 18:00. A resident card must be presented at collection. Late returns may suspend borrowing access. Extension requests must be made before the return date and are subject to availability.

A clear rewrite that keeps all the conditions

Begin with the answer the reader needs, then put related rules together. A useful title is Borrow equipment from the community loan desk. The eligibility section should say adults who are residents can apply, because a broad phrase such as everyone is welcome would change the rule. The request section should place the deadline beside the action. The response section should explain that sending a request does not mean the equipment is reserved. That distinction protects the reader from turning up without confirmation.

The draft below is a reference rewrite for this example. It uses short sections, but it is not shortened by discarding inconvenient facts. Words such as calendar days can be explained rather than removed: seven calendar days means weekends are included. The source does not tell us the local timezone or how to submit a request. Those remain questions for the service owner. Keeping them visible is more helpful than inventing a complete-looking process.

Borrow equipment from the community loan desk
Who can apply?
You can apply if you are an adult resident. You may request up to two items. Items marked restricted cannot be borrowed through this service.
How long can I borrow them?
For up to seven calendar days, including weekends.
When should I request them?
For collection on Thursday, send your request so it arrives by 16:00 on Tuesday.
Is my request confirmed?
Sending a request does not reserve the items. We will email a confirmation or refusal by 18:00 on Wednesday.
What should I bring?
Bring your resident card when you collect the items.
What if I need more time?
Ask for an extension before your return date. An extension depends on availability. Returning items late may suspend your access to borrowing.
Information the service owner still needs to supply: request method, relevant timezone and where to collect items.

Check the source and rewrite side by side

Ask for a fact-preservation table with a row for every rule. Do not accept a general statement that all information was preserved. A row should show the original fact, the rewritten wording and whether it matches. Check the words up to, before, may and depends on. These small words carry important meaning. Before the return date is not the same as on the return date. May suspend access is not the same as will permanently ban you.

Once the facts match, check that the reader can find them. A correct sentence buried under an unrelated heading can still fail the task. In this example, the deadline belongs under the request heading, and the resident-card rule belongs under collection. If a reader is scanning for what to bring, they should not have to read the loan term first. This is why organization is part of the writing job rather than decoration added after the words are finished.

Use adult language that is easy to understand

Simple wording is not childish wording. You can be warm without calling the reader dear or overexplaining familiar things. Replace submit a request with send a request when the meaning stays the same. Replace prior to with before. Keep a specialist word when the reader must recognize it, then explain it briefly. If the form uses the official label resident card, do not rename it proof of address unless those are actually the same document.

Use direct sentences with an identifiable person or organization doing the action. Compare confirmation shall be communicated with we will email a confirmation. The second version makes the responsibility clearer. Avoid cheerful language that weakens a serious condition: no worries if you are late contradicts the source's possible suspension. Tone should support the message, not change it. Ask ChatGPT to keep the reader's dignity and avoid jokes, patronizing praise or unnecessary warnings.

Make instructions easier to follow

Put actions in the order the reader performs them. Say what is needed before the action, then what happens after it. If the user must have a document ready, place that requirement before the upload step. If a button's label matters, use its actual label once you have checked the interface. Avoid directions that depend only on color or position, such as click the green thing on the right. Describe the control by its name and purpose so the instruction remains useful to more readers.

For a complicated process, use a short step for each action rather than putting four actions into one sentence. Add an example only when it resolves a real ambiguity. An example deadline can help explain before, but it must not replace the actual deadline. If there are different routes for different readers, name the conditions for each route. ChatGPT should not blend them into a single simplified instruction that accidentally sends someone through the wrong process.

Put headings and links into the real document

W3C's writing guidance recommends meaningful headings, clear instructions and link text that describes the destination. Its heading tutorial also explains that headings communicate structure, including to assistive technology. The final document therefore needs actual heading structure, not only bold lines that look like headings. In a web page, use the appropriate heading elements. In a word processor, use heading styles. Ask the person implementing the page or document to preserve that structure.

Check the text around links and form fields. Download the loan request form is more informative than click here. A label such as Email address is clearer than a blank box with a disappearing hint. Error messages should explain the problem and the correction: Enter a date in day/month/year format is useful only if that is the actual accepted format. ChatGPT can draft these messages, but someone must check them against the real form. A polished instruction for a nonexistent field cannot help the reader.

Try the task with a reader

Give the revised notice to a reader and ask concrete questions without teaching the answers first. Who can apply? How many items can you request? When must the request arrive? Does sending it guarantee collection on Thursday? What must you bring? Notice whether the person finds the answer quickly and whether they explain it correctly in their own words. This small task check is more revealing than asking whether they like the text. People can like a friendly message and still misunderstand its main condition.

Choose readers whose needs are relevant when possible, and let them use their usual tools. One person's success does not represent every disability or every language background. For a public service, wider accessibility work may involve the full interface, keyboard access, screen readers and specialist evaluation. Record the scope honestly: text revised and these tasks checked with these readers. Do not place a universal accessible badge on a page because ChatGPT used shorter sentences.

Repair errors and keep a usable version

If a rewrite says requests close Tuesday, specify the failure: restore the 16:00 receipt deadline and explain that sending later cannot meet it. If it says renew your loan, compare that wording with the source: extensions are requests subject to availability, not an automatic right. Ask for the smallest repair that fixes the meaning while preserving the clear structure. Then rerun the fact table and the affected reader task. There is no need to rewrite the entire notice when one condition needs correction.

Keep the final text, its required-fact list and any unresolved service questions together. When the policy changes, update the facts first and then the wording. This avoids making a clear old policy look current just because its language is pleasant. ChatGPT is useful here as an editing partner: it can make information easier to navigate, offer alternative wording and expose ambiguities. Your source comparison and real reader tasks decide whether the new version does the job.