Readability Statistics

The Spell and Grammar Check facility has an interesting option called Readability Statistics. It measures and displays information about the reading level of the document on a standard scale. This helps you evaluate how easily an average reader can understand your writing. When the readability statistics is invoked you will not see at the end of the grammar check. Rather, Word will automatically display the Readability Statistics window.  This window displays some statistical information about the text called Readability Scores.

Readability scores are usually based on the average number of syllables words per sentence and per word in the text.  The two scores normally used are the “Flesch Reading Ease” score and the “Flesch Grade Level” score.

The "Flesch Reading Ease" score generally rates text on the 100 point scale.  When the score is higher, it is very easy and simple to understand the document. For many of the standard documents, you have to try to score about 60 to 70.

"Flesch Grade Level" scores rates text on the basis of the US grade-school level. A “Flesch Grade Level” of 12, for example, indicates writing that can be understood by an average English speaking reader who has completed twelve years of education. A score of 8.0 defines that an 8 grader could easily understand the document. For many of the standard documents, you have to for a score of about 7.0 to 8.0.

It is recommended that to get a good score, you should write shorter, simpler sentences and use smaller words. This will enable readers of lower grade levels to understand your document and thus improve the overall readability of the document. If the Readability Statistics dialog box does not appear, it implies that the option has been disabled.

Questionnaire:

• What is Readability Statistics?
• Explain more about Readability Statistics.