Tell me what that means in plain english: A preliminary assessment of written environmental communication

Environmental communicators sometimes fail in their efforts to inform the public and encourage its participation in the decision-making process because their publications cannot be understood by the public. This problem is caused by a number of factors, including poor layout and graphics design, poor use of graphics to illustrate complicated points, the use of uncommon words, unnecessary technical terms and jargon, the use of long, complex sentences and use of the passive voice. Many of these problems stem from the assumption that the public shares technical knowledge or a specialized language. Environmental communicators must continually examine their assumptions and their work to improve their ability to inform the public