The Sahaj Standard
सहज · simple, natural. The Indian standard for Easy Read documents. Version 1.0, December 2026 (public draft now). Authors: Manovikas Institute of Higher Education and Manbhavan Self Advocacy Trust. DOI: to be registered on publication.
Easy Read
Sahaj means easy and natural.
The Sahaj Standard is the rule book for Easy Read in India.
It says how to write, how to use pictures, and how to check.
Self-advocates wrote it with the experts.
Why an Indian standard
International standards exist — Inclusion Europe's Information for All, Spain's UNE 153101, the UK Easy Read Standard v1.0, Germany's DIN SPEC 33429. None covers Devanagari typography, Hindi register, Indian numerals and forms, or the documents Indian citizens actually meet (UDID, ration card, Niramaya, bank KYC). The Sahaj Standard follows their principles and adds the Indian rules.
1. Words and sentences
- Everyday words; hard words explained immediately, in the same sentence or the next
- One idea per sentence; about 10 words or fewer (Easy Read); 5 words for Easy English
- Active voice; present tense where possible; “you” and “we”
- Numbers as figures; dates as 5 December 2026; no %, &, /
- No idioms, no abbreviations without the full form first
2. Pictures
- One picture for every main idea, to the left of the text it explains
- Literal, not symbolic; Indian people, clothes, places, money and offices
- Adults shown as adults
- No text inside pictures; a caption where needed
- Alt text written as an Easy Read sentence
3. Layout
- Sans-serif: Atkinson Hyperlegible, Verdana or Arial; Noto Sans Devanagari for Hindi, never smaller than the Latin text
- 16 pt minimum in print, 18 px on screen; headings at least 1.4×
- Left-aligned, ragged right; line spacing 1.5; wide left margin for pictures (8 cm on A4)
- Colour carries meaning consistently: blue = information, green = you can do this, yellow = important / your right, red = stop
- No italics, no underlining except links, no words in capitals
4. Hindi
- Hindi Easy Read is written fresh, not translated word-for-word
- Everyday Hindustani vocabulary; avoid Sanskritised administrative terms; give the English word in brackets where people use it (“bank”, “form”)
- Devanagari numerals or Latin numerals consistently within a document; Latin by default
5. Validation
A document may be called Easy Read under this standard only after a validation session with at least three readers with intellectual disability, recorded on the validation sheet, ending in Approved. See How validation works. Validators are paid.
6. Accessible files
- HTML pages: WCAG 2.2 AA; headings in order; skip links; 44 px targets; no autoplay
- PDF: tagged PDF/UA, reading order set, alt text on every picture, document language set
- Audio version for every public document
How the Sahaj Standard relates to other standards
| Standard | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Inclusion Europe, Information for All | Principles adopted; logo used only on documents that meet its conditions |
| UNE 153101:2018 EX (Spain) | Model for mandatory user validation and for a future BIS standard |
| UK Easy Read Standard v1.0 (2026) | Model for evidence base built with self-advocacy groups |
| GIGW 3.0 · WCAG 2.2 AA · IS 17802 | Technical conformance of web pages and files |
| RPwD Act 2016 s.2(y), s.40, s.42 | Legal basis in India |
Cite the standard
Manovikas Institute of Higher Education & Manbhavan Self Advocacy Trust (2026). The Sahaj Standard for Easy Read in India, v1.0. New Delhi. DOI to follow.
Roadmap
- v1.0 with DOI — December 2026 (Easy Read India Day)
- Validator protocol and seal licence terms — with v1.0
- Submission to BIS and DEPwD for reference under s.40 — 2027