On 26 and 27 May, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) held a preparatory meeting to define some of the main themes to be addressed at the third edition of the Convention of the Pan-Hispanic Network for Plain and Accessible Language. This international event brings together leading institutions dedicated to the Spanish language and is scheduled for October 2026.

Researchers Cecilio Garriga and Teresa Cantillo, members of AccessCat within the Neolcyt group, attended the meeting representing the UAB. Specifically, they took part in Session 4, focused on artificial intelligence and language technologies. The group, which works mainly in the field of plain language with the aim of making scientific and specialised vocabulary accessible, clear and understandable, presented several projects:

• MarIAterm, which uses generative AI to make definitions of technical terms in the RAE dictionary accessible through plain language and easy reading.
• CalMed, which creates a high-quality and accessible corpus in plain language based on medical texts related to women’s health.

About the Pan-Hispanic Network for Plain and Accessible Language: this project was launched in the summer of 2022, promoted by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). It was created with two objectives. First, to promote plain and accessible language as a democratic tool. Second, to ensure that public authorities guarantee its use across all public domains. Understanding why plain language is a democratic tool is straightforward: “it is a fundamental right of citizens to understand laws and basic regulations”, states the RAE. The network is made up of dozens of institutions and organisations, including the Neolcyt research group (UAB).