RTV Slovenia presented its EU-funded ENACT project at the fourth KLAARA Conference on Easy Language, held August 27–29 at the University of Latvia. The annual event brought together researchers, practitioners, and accessibility advocates to discuss developments in Easy Language, including research trends, standardization efforts, and emerging legal frameworks across Europe.
The conference featured three keynote speakers. Leealaura Leskelä traced the evolution of Easy Language in Finland, from its early focus on people with intellectual disabilities to its broader acceptance following the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Christiane Maaß outlined Germany’s progress and the role of the University of Hildesheim’s Research Center for Easy Language since 2014, highlighting empirical rule-building, organizational partnerships, and advances in automated text generation and translation. Linguist Ina Druviete presented the development of Easy Latvian and emphasized how national legislation and sociolinguistic policies shape its implementation.
RTV Slovenia, the coordinator of the Creative Europe–supported ENACT project, presented results from a survey of 39 organizations across 20 European countries. The findings underscore both the growing importance of easy-to-understand news content and the staffing and financial constraints that many media outlets face when producing it. ENACT aims to develop training and editorial guidelines to help newsrooms integrate Easy Language into journalistic practice.
Across the three-day program, presenters also explored the impact of the European Accessibility Act in Latvia, the role of visuals in comprehension, accessible health communication for Deaf communities, tools for inclusive surveys, and examples of Easy Language use in public services and cultural institutions.