--- title: "Readability introduction" date: "2021-09-23T11:22:09+00:00" summary: "Discover how to assess and improve your website's readability with Flesch-Kincaid and LIX tests." image: type: "page" url: "/web-governance/readability-introduction" id: "aaacfffa-dafc-4622-9d72-dba232a11dfe" --- Table of contents will be added **Introduction** ---------------- The readability feature categorizes the difficulty of the vocabulary on a website into comprehension and school grade values. This helps website owners improve the experience for their users.  This document provides an introduction to the Readability module and user documentation collection. Use the left navigation toolbar for documentation on the features of this module. Readability methods ------------------- The method that appears is the one that the admin selected during setup. ### Flesch Kincaid Readability Test (English Text) The Flesch–Kincaid readability method is used for English text and it measures word length, number of syllables per word, and sentence length. The formula for the Flesch (FRES) test is: **206.835 - 1.015 (total words/total sentences) - 84.6 (total syllables/total words)** The resulting scores and their meaning: Readability Score School Grade (United States) Additional Information 100.00–90.00 5th grade Very easy to read. Easily understood by students who are generally around 11 years old. 90.0–80.0 6th grade Easy to read. Conversational English for consumers. 80.0–70.0 7th grade Fairly easy to read. 70.0–60.0 8th & 9th grade Plain English. Easily understood by students in these grades, who are generally 13-15 years old. 60.0–50.0 10th to 12th grade Fairly difficult to read, students in these grades are generally 15-18 years old. 50.0–30.0 College Difficult to read. 30.0–10.0 College graduate Very difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates. 10.0–0.0 Professional Extremely difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates. Find out more about the [Flesch Kincaid Readability](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesch%E2%80%93Kincaid_readability_tests#:~:text=The%20Flesch%E2%80%93Kincaid%20readability%20tests,the%20Flesch%E2%80%93Kincaid%20Grade%20Level.) test. #### Errors in Flesch-Kincaid When Web Governance  is not able to generate a readability score for a page, the following error messages describe the reasons: * Language not supported: This indicates that the language of the page is not recognized as English. The Flesch-Kincaid test only works for English language. A encourages you to change to the LIX test to generate scores for non-English pages. * Score could not be generated: This indicates that it was not possible to generate an accurate score for the page. This is typically because either the text on a page is too short or too long, or the web crawler does not detect any text. ### LIX Readability Test (Non-English Text) The **LIX** readability method is used for all other languages, and the readability formula is as follows: **LIX = A/B + (C x 100)/A**, where: * **A** = Number of words * **B** = Number of periods (defined by period, colon, or upper-case first letter) * **C** = Number of long words (More than 6 letters) Find out more about the [LIX readability](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lix_\(readability_test\)) test. Clear language rules also affect the overall readability scores. Generally, these rules apply: ![An example of a customer clear language score. The description of the information shown is in the document text.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/rkrtzvntku/web/WebGov-Readability-ClearLanguageScore.png?v=ffc77a90-7b3b-45b7-a667-102944460a94) * **Long Sentences**: Sentences that exceed 20 words are flagged. Aim for 5% or lower total content with long sentences. The message is likely buried in complex statements and run-on sentences. A tip is to split the long sentences or use lists. * **Average Sentence Length**: Aim for 10 words per sentence or fewer for optimal readability. * **Passive Language**: Aim for 5% or lower total content in passive language. Active language is more direct and clear. Examples: * **Active voice:** Monkeys adore bananas. The cashier counted the money. The dog chased the squirrel. * **Passive voice:** Bananas are adored by monkeys. The money was counted by the cashier. The squirrel was chased by the dog. * **Readability**: The ideal readability score is 60 or higher. This ensures a clear message and intuitive instructional text. Readability checker ------------------- The Readability checker lets you paste or type any text into the section provided and get an immediate readability score for it. For more information, read Readability Checker. Add a scan exclusion -------------------- It is possible to exclude a segment of the webpage from the readability scan. For more information, read [Scan exclusions](/node/58591). Scan History ------------ The Scan History module stores all Readability issues and details from previous scans. For more information, read [Scan History (previously History Center)](/node/86131). Readability score report ------------------------ The Reports module provides a report on past readability scores. For more information, read [Content Quality reports](/node/58826).