About Opening Doors

< Back to Opening Doors: A Literacy Audit Tool Kit

Think of the people who use your organization’s services. What literacy tasks are they expected to perform? How can you help them feel more comfortable accessing your services? If you work with the general public, chances are that the literacy demands of your organization raise barriers for some clients.Opening Doors will give you practical suggestions for improving your service delivery.

Who is a Literacy Audit for? 

  • Community Adult Learning Programs
  • social service agencies
  • community organizations
  • businesses
  • government departments
  • someone who works with the general public

What is a literacy audit?

An audit is used to examine how well an organization is performing. In a literacy audit you are examining how well your organization is accessible and literacy-friendly for everyone who uses your service.  Using the five literacy audit checklists, you can assess your strengths and identify areas where you can improve your:
  • advertising
  • print materials
  • verbal communication
  • overall service delivery
  • training for staff and volunteers

What is in the Opening Doors guide?

  • Audit facilitation guide
  • Literacy audit tool
  • Literacy awareness messaging
  • Action planning templates
  • Plain language guidelines

How to use the Opening Doors guide?

  • Use Opening Doors by working through section by section, or skip to the section that is of interest to you.
  • Once you have completed the audit for your organization, use this process with businesses or service organizations in your community. Build relationships with community partners and help them identify literacy barriers and strategies for improving service to their clients.
    • Promote understanding about literacy with the Literacy Awareness section.
    • Conduct an audit using the Facilitating an Audit and Plain Language sections.
    • Open doors in your community by making services more accessible and engaging.