The Family Benefit Funds (Caisses dallocations familiales – CAF) offer the possibility to carry out most of their procedures in digital format. Aware that the access to online administrative procedures is uneven depending on the audience, the CAF has implemented various actions to promote the digital inclusion of people.
Among these actions, an initiative of the CAF of the Nord Department provides step by step tutorials in a language which is “easy to read and understand”. This refers to a set of rules aiming at ensuring that the information is understandable, in particular for people with intellectual disabilities. However, in practice, these rules relating to an “easy to read and understand” language benefit a much larger audience, in particular; people not confident with the written word, non-French speakers, children acting as caregivers.
The rules relating to an “easy to read and understand” language are the result of a European project in partnership with 8 countries carried out between 2007 and 2009.
The distribution of these sheets is aimed at providing guidance and reassurance to the public, promoting increased independence in the use of the online procedures on the caf.fr website.