Plain language Group LLC

What Plain language Group LLC does

Plain Language Group LLC, operating as The Plain Language Group, is a private professional services firm founded in 2000 by Deborah S. Bosley, Ph.D., and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The firm specializes in plain language consulting, helping organizations translate complex, jargon-laden content — particularly regulatory disclosures, legal documents, customer communications, and policy materials — into clear, concise, and credible language that meets plain language statutory and regulatory requirements across Dodd-Frank, HIPAA, ERISA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Credit Card Act, the Affordable Care Act, and Form ADV.

The firm's core offerings include content revision and redesign, employee training built on client-specific documents, usability testing on online and print materials, keynote speaking, and expert witness testimony on whether documents meet plain language regulatory standards. Service delivery is handled by a multidisciplinary team of information designers, plain language writers, a plain language attorney, usability researchers, and customer experience experts. The firm has delivered engagements for Fortune 100/500 clients including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Google, Abbott, KPMG, Cigna, Vulcan, and Sempra, as well as government entities such as Gwinnett County and higher education institutions including the University of California.

The business model is sales-led, direct-to-enterprise consulting with custom quote-based pricing and multi-year contracts. The firm generates revenue through professional services hours tied to discrete content projects, training programs, and advisory engagements. Go-to-market relies primarily on referrals, industry recognition (including a shared ClearMark Award from the Center for Plain Language), thought leadership via three books and 100+ international keynotes, and the founder's board positions at the Institute for Fiduciary Standards, Center for Plain Language, and former chair role at Plain Language Association International. The firm is bootstrapped, founder-owned, and operates without venture capital or external institutional investment.

Name

Plain language Group LLC

Legal name

The Plain Language Group

Website

https://theplainlanguagegroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Plain Language Group LLC is a Charlotte-based private consulting firm founded in 2000 that helps Fortune 100/500 enterprises, government agencies, and universities revise complex disclosures and legal documents into clear, regulator-compliant plain language across financial services, healthcare, technology, and higher education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Communication and Language Consulting

NAICS

All Other Miscellaneous Schools and Instruction (611699), Document Preparation Services (56141)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Language & Cross-Cultural Training (BPACANAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Reference (Public Administration, Regulatory Guidance) (EDAGAGAK)

Keywords

• Plain language consulting
• Communication design services
• Regulatory compliance writing
• Content usability testing
• Document redesign services

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Services: Consulting and professional services including content revision, usability testing, expert testimony, and keynote speaking engagements

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Plain Language Group is a professional services firm that revises and redesigns complex written content into clear, concise, and credible plain language for enterprise and government clients. Its service suite covers content revision, employee training, usability testing, keynote speaking, expert testimony, and regulatory compliance advisory across financial services, healthcare, technology, higher education, and government.

Product overview

The Plain Language Group offers a suite of plain language consulting services rather than a software product. The core offering includes content revision and redesign, employee training, content usability testing, keynote speaking, expert testimony, and regulatory compliance services. They work across multiple sectors including financial services, technology, healthcare, higher education, government, and law. Their services are delivered by a team of information designers, plain language writers, a plain language attorney, usability researchers, and customer experience experts. The company was founded in 2000 and has worked with Fortune 100/500 companies as well as government agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Revise & Redesign Complex Content Translation of existing complex content into plain language, primarily working with disclosures to help customers understand them and align with regulatory requirements such as Dodd-Frank, the Credit Card Act, HIPAA, ERISA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, the Affordable Care Act, and Form ADV.
• Train Employees Training services using site-specific documents from clients' workplaces to improve internal and external communications through plain language presentations, including custom workshops on applying plain language to shareholder communications and health literacy.
• Test Content Usability testing on online and print content to determine what customers can easily understand, using research and review testing results to effectively redesign and revise content for clients such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
• Give Keynote Talks Live speaking and webinar events covering plain language topics in healthcare, financial services, education, technology, law, and other industries, with the firm having delivered more than 100 keynotes internationally.
• Provide Expert Testimony Expert witness services to determine if documents meet regulatory requirements for plain language, assisting clients in legal or compliance cases.
• Exceed Legal Requirements Implementation of regulations including Dodd-Frank, DOL, Credit Card Act, HIPAA, ERISA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Affordable Care Act, Form ADV, and other plain language requirements, delivered as a consulting engagement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced document length by 17 pages (65 to 48 pages) for Wells Fargo Customer Account Agreement
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered board membership, leadership and key partner.

• Institute for Fiduciary Standardsboard membershipOthersFounder Deborah S. Bosley serves on the board of the Institute for Fiduciary Standards in Washington, D.C.
• Center for Plain Languageboard membershipOthersFounder is a board member of the Center for Plain Language and shared a ClearMark Award for work with JPMorgan Chase.
• Plain Language Association InternationalleadershipOthersFounder spent three years as Chair of Plain Language Association International
• The Conference Boardkey partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngaged for Executive Compensation Conferences to run workshops on applying plain language principles to CD&As and shareholder communications. Audience rated sessions highly (90% excellent/very good).

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Global design consultancy offering human-centered design, content design, and service design across enterprise clients. Comparable as a broader, larger incumbent that addresses some of the same content and usability challenges PLG solves, but with much wider scope.
• Deloitte: Big Four professional services firm whose Customer Transformation, Risk & Compliance, and Human Capital practices increasingly bundle plain-language, CX, and disclosure redesign into enterprise mandates. Directly overlaps PLG's compliance and customer-communication value proposition.
• Frog Design (Capgemini Invent): Design and innovation consultancy inside Capgemini Invent that delivers content design, service design, and customer experience work for large enterprises. Comparable as a broader incumbent addressing enterprise content and customer communication challenges.
• Lionbridge: Large language services and content company offering translation, localization, and content production for global enterprises. Adjacent peer because language-services consolidation increasingly includes plain-language and content-quality services that compete for similar buyer budgets.
• McKinsey & Company: Largest management consultancy with practice areas touching compliance, customer experience, and organizational communication. Competes for the same enterprise wallets as PLG when communication or compliance mandates are bundled into broader transformation programs.

Emerging players

• Contently: Content marketing platform and talent network that helps enterprises produce, manage, and measure branded content. Comparable to PLG in serving enterprise content-quality needs, but productized as a platform and talent marketplace rather than bespoke consulting.
• Acrolinx: Enterprise content governance and terminology platform used to enforce style, clarity, and brand voice across large organizations. Comparable to PLG because both attack the same enterprise content-quality problem, but Acrolinx does so via software while PLG does so via services.

Direct peers

• Nielsen Norman Group: UX research and training consultancy that runs usability testing, training, and conferences for digital content. Closely comparable to PLG because both combine hands-on usability testing, content-focused training, and thought leadership conferences for enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-plain-language-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plain language Group LLC