Kansas City, MO
Citywide Plain Language Strategy
Comparison of the 2024 and 2025 Kansas City Animal Services pages, showing the shift from a text-heavy layout to a clearer, more visual design with improved navigation: Left, 2024 Animal Services page with basic formatting and minimal graphics. Right, 2025 redesigned page featuring colorful animal illustrations, clear headings, and modern navigation tiles
Plainlii partnered with the City of Kansas City to design and deliver a comprehensive implementation program, including:
Live training for communicators, leaders, and staff
Plain Language Leadership Summit, featuring national and international experts
Customized Kansas City Plain Language Guide, aligned with the city’s brand and accessibility needs
Consultations with Language Access leadership on content, processes, and implementation
Action-planning sessions for departments to create immediate next steps
Support for measurement planning, including quality assurance, document auditing, and user-centered strategies
Well, clear writing reads easy, but it is hard to write. We have the training and practice to help you write or revise your documents so you can focus on what you do best.
We make words work harder, so you don’t have to!
Leaders embraced plain language as a strategic priority linked to equity, access, and transparency.
Staff gained practical tools to write, revise, and evaluate content with more confidence.
The city adopted a unified plain language guide that is improving consistency across departments.
Departments are creating actionable implementation plans to strengthen communication systems long-term.
The initiative set the foundation for sustainable clarity, accessibility, and multilingual support.
Service Categories
This case study includes:
Training • Strategic Consulting • Style Guide Development • Leadership Engagement • Accessibility • Language Access Support
Why It Matters
In a city as large and diverse as Kansas City, clear communication supports every resident’s right to understand. This work helped the city strengthen trust, reduce confusion, and ensure that all residents—regardless of language or background—can access the information they need.
Contact us
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We will be happy to answer your questions and help you achieve bolder communication results with writing, translation, and elearning!
