Clear communication pays off for Veteran’s Affairs
Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand has been recognised for its focus on better communication by being named as a finalist in the Plain English Trust annual awards.
The awards highlight excellence in the use of plain English and in raising the bar for clear communication.
The refreshed Veterans’ Affairs website was one of three finalists in the Best Plain English Website (public sector) category.
“We are delighted to have had our website named a finalist in this year’s Plain English awards,” Head of Veterans’ Affairs Bernadine MacKenzie said.
“It signals to us that we’re getting it right in communicating better with our veterans, which is a number one priority for us”.
The new website is designed to make it easy for New Zealand Defence Force veterans and their whānau to find out about the support Veterans’ Affairs can provide, and how to access it.
Veterans’ Affairs worked closely with the veteran community as the new website came together.
“They were fantastic user-testers for us”, Ms MacKenzie said. “We learned a lot from listening to their feedback. Together, we came up with better language, a much less bureaucratic tone, and an easy-to-follow structure.”
The Veterans’ Affairs website has been refreshed in recent months and now includes clearer and more useful information, including an online “check your eligibility” tool.
“The new website is user-friendly and accessible — exactly what we were all aiming for. We know we’ve got more to do, and being named a finalist for this award is a great motivator for us all,” Ms MacKenzie said.
Veterans’ Affairs’ new website is at www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz
