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Hello and welcome to this video lecture.

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The lecture is a part of Unit 2- Easy-to-understand language,

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Element 3- Processes.

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My name is Tatjana Knapp and together
we will take a closer look

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at the process of validating.

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Validation is a process of assessing

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whether the content is, in fact,
 Easy-to-understand.

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The process should actively include

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the end-users of Easy-to-understand information

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and is often considered to be a crucial part

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in the process of publishing Easy-to-understand information.

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The principles of Easy-to-understand information combine

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principles of Easy language or Easy-to-read,

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which usually demands the involvement of 
the end-users,

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and principles of Plain language,

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which has somewhat looser rules.

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Validated information in Easy language or Easy-to-read

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is often marked with a special logo

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that indicates the proof of validation,

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like the European logo for Easy-to-read information 
by Inclusion Europe in blue color,

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showing a person holding a book and giving a thumbs-up,

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or a national logo for Easy-to-read,formation,

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such as the logo for Easy Slovene
by Zavod RISA

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a purple round sign with a winking book.

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Validating, however, differentiates between

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validating comprehensibility and comprehension.

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Validating comprehensibility is assessing

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if the guidelines for producing 
Easy-to-understand information were followed.

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That is something that Easy-to-understand experts 
can do by themselves

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during or after creating the content.

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We cover the guidelines
in Element 4 of Unit 2.

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In the picture, we provide an example

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of a cover of written guidelines

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by Inclusion Europe,
titled Information for all.

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Validating comprehensibility is, however, 
not enough for applying the logos

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we used as examples earlier.

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The process namely also requires
validating comprehension.

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The key actors in this are validators,

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people with different barriers to obtaining information.

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They validate the information.

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Facilitators are there to support them

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and are coordinators of the validating process.

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The roles of validators and facilitators

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are not yet officially recognized as professions,

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which is clear from the European Union
profession database in 2020.

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As seen in this photo
of a validator and a facilitator

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discussing printed information,

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both key actors work together very closely.

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The status of both professions might be due to a change

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as the European Project TRAIN2VALIDATE,

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which started in 2020 and is to finish in 2023,

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aims at creating new specific 
professional profiles

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in the process of production of Easy-to-understand materials:

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those of validators and facilitators.

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For more information, visit the website: 
www.plenainclusionmadrid.org/train2validate

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Regardless of the current official status 
of the aforementioned expert roles,  

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Easy-to-understand content should be validated.  

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Furthermore, it is recommended for the end-users 
to be included during the whole process of  

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publishing Easy-to-understand content,

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which consists of selecting the content,

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producing the content,

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and promoting the content,

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as seen in the picture.

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Strictly speaking, however,

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is the validation process a part of the production phase.

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At this point, Europe has unharmonized methodologies

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for approaching the validation process,

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at least when it comes to comprehension.

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The beforementioned project TRAIN2VALIDATE 
addresses this,

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but for now, it is important to know

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that the basis for the process in 
most countries is an inclusive methodology.

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At the core of the process lays comprehension-

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for example, language comprehension

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and picture comprehension.

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We mentioned language comprehension,

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which involves analysis at different levels

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(such as word, sentence, or message analysis)

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and the integration of message meaning

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with the prior discourse and world knowledge,

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as described by Singer in 2013.

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Similar can be applied to picture comprehension.

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Generally, the process of validating 
comprehension can be applied in 2 ways: 

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The first type is producing or adapting 
the content together with the end-users,  

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which is no longer just validating,
but co-authoring.

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The other type seems to be much more common

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and is based in validating pre-made drafts.

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As we already pointed out the key actors in the process,

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we can divide the activities
into 2 main groups:

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facilitation and comprehension assessment.

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For the purpose of this lecture,

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we chose to bypass the co-authoring,

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which can be seen in the photo of an author 
writing the content on the computer

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together with the end-users,

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and speak about the more common type 
of validation and its’ main activities. 

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The first group of activities

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define the role of a facilitator.

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The facilitator creates a group of validators,

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organizes and coordinates the validation sessions

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and communicates the content between authors 
of the content, editors, and validators.

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The role of the validators,
who are supported by a facilitator,

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is to assess comprehension of the content.

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Together they analyze 
the information and give feedback.

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Communication is essential
for the process.

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Some rules or guidelines
for communicating with the validators

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should be followed.

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We cover this in Unit 4, Element 2,

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under interpersonal skills,

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so make sure to check it out.

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To see some examples
and get information on the subject,

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check out some other videos:

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Sample from Unit 2, Element 4,

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Sample: Validation from Unit 3, Element 1,

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video Validators: A true profession
from Unit 4, Element 1,

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and also from Unit 4 but Element 2:

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videos Validation meeting: Interpersonal skills

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and Communicating with validators and end-users.

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This concludes our video lecture.

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If you have any questions or comments 
regarding the content,

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feel free to contact me through email.

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The email address is tatjana@risa.si.