• 57 per cent say television is the main source of information, especially in the evening;
• 18 per cent read daily newspapers;
• 15 per cent listen to the radio, especially in the morning;
• 3 per cent read weekly papers;
• 2 per cent read magazines;
• 1 per cent use the Internet.

In yet another document, Communication Canada says some with literacy problems want written material that they can take home or have mailed to them. They can then read it in private, taking as much time as they need. They can also get help from family and friends.³⁸

Literacy levels of communications

William H. DuBay, who works extensively on plain language, puts common written material in perspective:

Comics are written at the 4th-grade level or lower. Most popular fiction is written at the 6th-grade level. Reader’s Digest is written at the 9th-grade level, the New Yorker at the 10th-grade level, and newspapers at the 12th-grade level. The target reading level for large, public audiences is the 7th grade.³⁹

As already mentioned, the reading level of material used by tribunals is too high.

You can use a combination of techniques to help people with low literacy. Some tribunals and courts have already started to simplify communications with

38. Communication Canada, Successful Communication, Literacy and You (Ottawa: Communication Canada, May 2003), see generally.
39. William H. DuBay, “Using Readability Tools” (presentation to the Plain Language Conference, Toronto, September 27, 2002). Available from www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/conferences/2002/index.htm.