You never know what you’ll find on an instruction sheet when you buy a gadget.
Once upon a time it would identify the component parts and explain what each part did.
If it was made in the UK it would have assembly instructions (if it needed assembling) and operating instructions. These would be written in English and possibly in French, German and Spanish.
When we joined the EU the information required grew and the number of languages had to cover every single one.
From the days when a small slip of paper was enough as an information leaflet a lot of items we buy these days have what amounts to a slim paperback.
My son works for a company which has to ensure the information in these tomes is accurate. A lot of this work is now done online.
He started off in this line working as what amounted to a quality controller and also involved quality testing an item to make sure it is safe.
Nowadays he concentrates on ensuring all the information needed (including warnings on whether or not it is suitable for different age ranges) is provided.
Over the years he has explained to me the necessity for certain things provided in these leaflets.
It is not down to bureaucracy, much of it is to ensure the safety of the purchaser and any user of the item.
As a journalist I was always told that a news story had to be understood by an average reader, known in the early 20th century as “the man on a Clapham ombibus”.
Although the term is archaic it is still a good guide these days and applies to any purveyor of information.
Mind you this tenet now looks as though instructions are being brought to an extremely basic statement.
I have just bought a kitchen gadget for which information instructions have come down to the most basic I have ever seen.
HOW TO USE:
Press button: machine works.
Release button: machine stops working.
I think even Donald Trump could understand that.
Robin's Nest 