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EASIT – Easy Access 
for Social Inclusion Training

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Hello and welcome to Unit 2, 
Easy-to-understand language. 

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Element 2. Legislation, 
standards and guidelines. 

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This is an introduction 
to the situation in Sweden.

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I am Ester Hedberg.


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From the Swedish 
National Association for Dyslexia.

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Overview.

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In this lecture I will talk 
about languages in Sweden.

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Planning and policies,
the Swedish Language Council,

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the Swedish Language Act,


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and plain language and
easy-to-read language in Sweden.

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Languages in Sweden 

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Sweden has more 
than 10 million inhabitants,

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most of whom speak 
the official language, Swedish.

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There are also five 
official minority languages:

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Finnish, Meänkieli, 
Romany Chib, Sámi and Yiddish 


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Swedish sign language 
also has an official status

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though it is not considered 
a national minority language.

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Swedish in Finland 

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Swedish is also an official 
national language in Finland.

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The Statistics Finland 
(Statistikcentralen) inform

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that around 275,000 
Finnish citizens speak Swedish.

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Immigrant languages

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From World War II and onward

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immigration to Sweden 
has exceeded emigration.

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Immigrants have mainly come
to find work or as refugees.

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They come from countries 
all over the world. 

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The Swedish Language Council 
says that no one knows exactly

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how many languages 
are spoken in Sweden.

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It is estimated 
to be around 200.

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Some major immigrant languages 
are Arabic, Kurdish and Persian.

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English as second language

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In general, 
Swedes speak some English 

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since it is
compulsory in school. 

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It is also common 
to learn a third language,

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referred to as modern language. 

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According to The Swedish 
National Agency for Education

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popular modern languages 
are German, French and Spanish.

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A national language 

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Swedish has been 
the main language since 1500. 

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The Lutheran reformation and the
translation of the bible into Swedish 

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were important in establishing 
Swedish as a national language

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as language researcher 
Olle Josephsson explains 

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in his book on language policy, 
“Språkpolitik” from 2018.

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For hundreds of years

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Swedish had competition 
from Latin, French and German,

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which were used 
among influential people. 

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such as royalty, 
aristocrats and the well-educated.

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The Swedish Academy

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In 1786, King Gustav III 
founded the Swedish Academy.

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The main purpose was 
to strengthen the Swedish language.

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From then on Swedish became more 
established as a standard language

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The Academy is still 
a very strong institution in Sweden. 

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They are probably most known
for choosing the laureates  

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 of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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They also publish
The Swedish Academy Dictionary,

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covering Swedish written language 
since 1521 until today.

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Swedish Language Council

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The Swedish Language Council 
is the official institution

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for advancing and 
cultivating languages in Sweden. 

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On their website 
they explain that,

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“The Council's mission is 
to monitor the development

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of spoken and written Swedish and
also to monitor the use and status 

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of all other 
languages spoken in Sweden.

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Primarily, that means promoting 
the use of Swedish sign language

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and our five 
official minority languages

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Finnish, Meänkieli, 
Sami, Romani and Yiddish.”

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The council was founded in 2006, 
when the government decided 

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to merge the former 
Swedish Language Board,

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the Swedish-Finnish 
Language Board and 

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the Plain Language Group 
within the Government Offices.

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It is a department within

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the Institute for Language 
and Folklore government agency. 

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Promotes plain language  

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On a national level, 
The Swedish Language Council 

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coordinates plain language efforts. 

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It promotes and inspires 
 all public agencies, 

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institutions and organizations 
in working with plain language.

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The council has experts 
to advise agencies and the public 

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and to answer 
questions on linguistics. 

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The council publishes books, 
such as handbooks and dictionaries.  

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Among other tasks, 
it also conducts research. 

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Striving for clear language  

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Olle Josephsson writes in his book 

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that current work 
with plain language in Sweden


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began in 1965 
when the Language Board 

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started publishing a periodical on
language cultivation, Språkvård, 

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in which linguistic 
matters were discussed.

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Two years later 
the first guidelines 


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for language usage 
in laws and statutes 

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were sent out from 
the Prime Minister’s Office.

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Further progress

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1976, the Prime Minister’s Office 
hired their first language expert. 

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The 1986 Administrative 
Procedure Act states that,

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“The authority shall aim 
to express itself 

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in an easily 
understandable way. 

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The authority shall also, 
by other means,

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make matters easy for 
the people with whom it deals.”

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In 1991, the Prime Minister’s Office 
published the first edition of a

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style guide for public authorities,
Myndigheternas skrivregler. 

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In 1993, a Plain Language group 
was appointed by the government  

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with the purpose of promoting 
plain language efforts in public.

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A threat to democracy

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We learned before that 
the Swedish language had 

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competition from Latin, French 
and German for long periods.

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Much later, Swedish 
would again face competition

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–this time from English. 

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The Swedish Language Council 
writes on their website that, 

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“During the last decades, 
English has started to compete 

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with Swedish in a growing number 
of fields in Swedish society 

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–in large, international companies, 
in the educational system 

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and in the media industry.


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This poses a threat to 
democratic values 

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as many Swedes have insufficient 
knowledge of English.”

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As a consequence, the government 
mandated the Language Council 

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to draft an “Action Program for the 
Promotion of the Swedish Language”.

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The draft was presented in 1998. 


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Two years later, 
the government appointed 

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a new committee with 
the purpose  of investigating 

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the status and future 
of the Swedish Language. 

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In 2002, a report containing 
proposals was presented. 

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A new language policy

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In 2005, 
the Swedish Parliament 

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decided on a new 
Swedish language policy.

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It has four goals.
The Swedish Language Council 

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has translated them  into English 
on their website:

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Swedish is the 
majority language in Sweden. 

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Swedish should be 
a complete language, 

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thats mean be possible 
to use in all areas of society. 

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The language of authorities 
should be correct, 

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simple and understandable.

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Everyone has a right to language: 
to learn Swedish,  

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to learn foreign languages,

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and to use one's mother tongue 
or minority language.

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The Swedish Language Act

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On July 1, 2009, the Swedish 
Language Act came into force.  

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It was largely based on 
he four language policy goals

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adopted by 
the Parliament in 2005.

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It is a framework law 
and only consists of 15 clauses. 

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The primary purpose
 was to establish Swedish 

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as the official 
language in Sweden.

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Plain Language Clause

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The 11th clause is 
of great interest to anyone 

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with a stake in Plain Language. 

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The clause is named 
the Plain Language Clause. 

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It says that the Swedish language 
used in all public activities 

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should be cultivated, 
simple and understandable


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The Swedish Language Council 
clarifies that cultivated means 

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it should be written
in proper Swedish 

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following official 
language recommendations. 

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Simple means using words 
that are easy to understand  

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and with a clear and 
easy grammatical structure.

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Understandable means 
that the language should be 

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written or spoken
in a manner that 

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the intended receiver 
 can understand.

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Both written and spoken 

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The Language Act covers both 
written and spoken language. 

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That means that all communication 
in all public activities 

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should be in plain language.

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No regulation 
for easy-to-read

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Unlike having rules
for using plain language

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in public situations, there are 
no national regulations

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on the use of 
easy-to-read language.

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The official guidelines for 
web development state that

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written texts on public websites 
should be written in a way 

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that is easy to understand for the 
widest range of people possible.

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And then they say that 
the website, or parts of it,

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should be made accessible 
through easy-to-read language, 

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if there is a need for it. 

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The developer should conduct
a target group analysis

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 to discover if it is needed.

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Easy-to-read is used 

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Nevertheless, easy-to-read is, 
and has been, used since the 1960s,

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in literature for children, 
second language learners 

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and readers 
with cognitive disabilities.

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And it is used in both printed 
and digital public information. 

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Center for Easy-to-Read

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Between 1997 and 2015, 
there was a national foundation 

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for easy-to-read, 
Centrum för lättläst. 

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It was publicly funded 
and its mission was 

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to publish news and literature 
in easy-to-read language.

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The target group 
was people with cognitive 

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and reading difficulties.
The foundation started 

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a publishing house for 
easy-to-read literature, "LL-förlaget"  

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and an easy-to-read 
newspaper, "8 sidor".

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The foundation also 
offered counseling and training. 

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The Agency for Accessible Media 

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In 2014, the Parliament decided 
 to close the foundation, 

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and in 2015 the newspaper 
and publishing house 

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were moved to the Swedish 
Agency for Accessible Media.

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The main function of the agency
is to ensure that persons

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with reading impairment 
can access literature 

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and daily newspapers, 
that means  

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with audio, easy-to-read, 
braille and other tactile.

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Though under the responsibility 
of the agency 

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the magazine “8 sidor”  
is an independent publication

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and the newsroom is separate 
from the from the agency.

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Easy language publishers today

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In addition to 
the publishing house 

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at the Swedish 
Agency for Accessible Media,

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there are a number of other 
publishing houses on the market, 

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specializing in 
easy-to-read literature. 

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For broadcast news
in easy language, 

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a Swedish public service 
radio station broadcasts

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an easy-language 
program, "Klarspråk" 

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and Swedish public 
 television broadcasts

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news in easy Swedish,
"Nyheter på lätt Svenska".

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UN Convention 

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In 2008 Sweden ratified 
the UN Convention 

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on the Rights 
of Persons with Disabilities. 

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It came into effect 
in Sweden in 2009.  

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Articles 2, 4, 9 and 21 
 deal with information. 

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In short, the convention says 
that the convention states

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“shall take appropriate 
measures” to ensure 

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 that information is accessible 
for citizens with disabilities.

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Summary

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In this lecture, we have talked 
about languages in Sweden, 

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planning and policies, 
the Swedish Language Council,

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the Swedish Language Act, 

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and plain and easy-to-read 
language in Sweden. 

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Thank you for listening!

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This video lecture was 
prepared by Ester Hedberg, 

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the Swedish National 
Association for Dyslexia.

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You can reach me at 
ester.hedberg@dyslexi.org