The first week of 2026 has been a bitty week. But there was enough in it to give a taste of what’s in store this year.
Highlights
- We had a good session for the content profession on Tuesday. I asked the team to look towards the end of the year by putting together a ‘news headline’ to set out what a successful year would look like for us as individuals. It promises to be a different, difficult year to predict, so this is a good way to look towards the horizon to prepare us for the journey ahead.
- I had a good chat with Adrián about how we can support each other as design professions in 2026 and through the transition to the Welsh Government.
Transfer of CDPS to Welsh Government
The first week of the year has shown that I didn’t fully appreciate how much energy the transition would use – in terms of effort and emotion.
It emerged this week that we would need to carry out work to evaluate our roles (JEGS) to make sure we’re on the right rung of the Government’s institutional ladder. That’s all well but this was unexpected.
In starting to think about that, I started to consider that relationship between hierarchy and responsibility, and how this is different in organisations that are trying to work digitally. Successful digital teams have independence (within clear expectations) to make decisions. Yes, a little extra authority comes with responsibility for things like setting standards, creating ways of working, leading by example, management, mentoring, coaching and so on. But the role of a good digital leader is basically the role of a facilitator. It’s not a directing, hierarchical role.
Time will tell how these things will transfer into Welsh Government. I have to confess to being a little hesitant, still. I feel somewhat in the dark about what this will actually look like in practice. Do my expectations and hopes align with those of others? What opportunities do I have to influence some of those decisions? I’m not always sure. I hope the next few weeks will make this clearer.
The next three months will pass very quickly. And then it will be almost election time. In many ways, therefore, it’s an exciting time.
What I’d like to do: redefine clear Welsh
It is difficult to commit 100% to any priority at the moment in the wake of the transfer, but there is one thing we would like to do, which is a redefinition of clear (plain) Welsh for modern public services.
I’ve been reading and pondering in pockets of time in the last month and have discovered a few things and come to some conclusions:
- International Plain Language Foundation’s standard definition of clear language is available in several languages, but not Welsh
- this international standard has not been adopted in Britain in any language. Officially, it seems that the British Standards Institution (BSI) would have to do this. There is no official standards board for Wales, but there are other boards.
- In Welsh, we have an explanation of how to write clear Welsh in the guide Cymraeg Clir. I didn’t see anything anywhere mentioning the principles of the international standard, which is what readers need, how easy it is to find the information, understand it and use it. That is, there’s not much context why this is important. It is therefore easy to get into the swamp of personal taste and preference when writing or translating into Welsh. The standard can provide an anchor to discuss things more objectively.
- Our understanding of Welsh language users is low. Along with starting to define clear Welsh beyond words, starting to collect and publish existing research would be a step forward and help to provide an evidence basis for the logic of a clear language. Several people had indicated a desire to do this at GovCamp Cymru.
What about a definition then?
Based on the International Plain Language Foundation’s standard definitions of clear language, let’s start with:
Rydyn ni’n cyfathrebu mewn Cymraeg clir os bydd y geiriau a’r ymadroddion, y strwythur, a’r dyluniad a ddefnyddiwn ni mor glir fel ei bod yn hawdd i’n darllenwyr ni ddod o hyd i’r hyn maen nhw ei angen, deall yr hyn maen nhw’n ei ganfod, a defnyddio’r wybodaeth honno.
English is the main basis of this adaptation. A more concise version is in French, but, in my opinion, it loses a bit of the emphasis in the second half of the definition.
For the most part, I can’t do this myself. How about it? You’re welcome to contact me.