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<div>Can I add a couple of thoughts to the debate?</div><div><br></div><div>There is undoubtedly a big problem of naive information design becoming enshrined in the law, and there are plenty of historical and current examples of this. However, as a profession we do need to respond to the kind of concerns the politicians are expressing. </div><div><br></div><div>As an aside I don't believe the fact that 12pt is a vague definition is a big problem in practice - even 12pt Bembo would be more legible than what we get now. More to the point is that to print most terms of business in 12pt of any typeface would lead to acres of paper, and, as others have suggested, would not ensure they are read. Indeed customer research often shows people are intimidated by long documents, even when clearly written.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm not convinced testing is a universal solution - fine for medicines information perhaps, where a highly regulated product is marketed over a period of time in a stable format, but many of the kind of documents this MP is talking about, which include newspaper advertisements and direct mail, are produced to fast timescales and may even be in personalised formats. </div><div><br></div><div>I think it would be useful to explore a risk-based approach. This is effectively what legal departments in large organisations do when they assess documents before they go out. For example, in some cases they approve an abbreviated reference to 'terms and conditions apply' whereas in other cases they insist the full set is supplied. About three years ago we surveyed practice among mobile phone companies and found quite a wide range of strategies. As well as the two I've mentioned, we also found quite a common practice of summarising the most important terms of business in larger or bolder type - but you need some kind of risk assessment to tell you what is important. </div><div><br></div><div>A risk-based approach means assessing each item and coming to a view about (a) the likelihood of it being misunderstood, (b) the likelihood of the eventuality it caters for actually happening, and (c) the potential damage to the customer (or indeed to the company's relationship with the customer, and its reputation) if it is misunderstood and the eventuality happens. The risk assessment process could be tested with customers, even if every document cannot be.</div><div><br></div><div>An example of a low risk item might be the part of the contract that states that if the company is sold to another company, the contract will be transferred to the buyer without changes. Not an everyday occurrence, and not one that would bother most people so long as the service continues without material changes. A high risk item might be the penalties for early release from a contract, or how complaints are handled. Most of us would not mind, and would not be penalised for our laziness, if the very low risk items were in 5pt, or for that matter printed on a banana and fired into space. So long as the high risk items were prominent, legible and designed to be taken seriously.</div><div><br></div><div>An anecdotal example of this is my own claim under insurance that I was sold by my water supplier to cover problems with drains. It turned out (deep in the small print) that if my drain went under someone else's land to reach the main sewer I was not covered. Yet this is the most common arrangement in the newly built town where I live. So almost no one here can actually claim under this policy. A risk assessment of this clause would have told them there is a very high risk of this eventuality, that it threatens the whole point of the policy, and therefore there is highly likely to be damage to the customer relationship. And to make sure it does damage their reputation in some small way, I will mention that the company is Anglian Water and the 'cover' is provided for them by Homeserve. </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lucida Grande; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lucida Grande; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lucida Grande; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><div style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Helvetica"><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">Rob Waller</span></span></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Lucida Grande; min-height: 16px; ; font-size: 13px; "><br style="; font-size: 13px; "></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div></span></span></span></div></body></html>