[Wikimedia-l] Academics and accessible writing

[Ziko van Dijk]

2012/5/29 David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com>:
> No, I think it's incorrect to assume "readable" is a euphemism for
> "dumbed down". Frankly, many academics are terrible writers. Because
> most people are terrible writers.

Indeed. As Wikipedia is a general reference work I think that
readability is part of the quality. A text that is not understood by
the supposed readers is a bad text. In the Wikipedia lessons at
Stuttgart School for the Media, which I accompany, I try to stress out
how important this quality element is.

Frequently I don't understand Wikipedia articles which deal with
technical and (natural) science subjects. We historians have the
reputation to be some of the best writers among scientists, but
sometimes I wonder whether my articles are as comprehensible as I
believe they are. I would like to see more feedback from readers, but
am afraid that the Article Feedback Tool is still not a good solution.

I am afraid that most of those Wikipedians who could need readability
lessons are not aware of the problems they cause to readers.

Kind regards
Ziko




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