Readability is the measure of how easy or difficult that it is to understand a piece of text. Different elements of writing can contribute to readability. These include things like word choice, sentence length, and the average number of syllables per word.
GovHub readability is calculated by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test. This test uses polysyllabic words and long sentences the length of sentences and words to determine the grade level associated with the readability of a page. You should aim for a middle school (6-8 grade) readability level for your content.
Score | US Grade Level |
---|---|
≤1 | Below 1st Grade |
2 | 2nd Grade |
3 | 3rd Grade |
4 | 4th Grade |
5 | 5th Grade |
6 | 6th Grade |
7 | 7th Grade |
8 | 8th Grade |
9 | High School Freshman |
10 | High School Sophomore |
11 | High School Junior |
12 | High School Senior |
13 | College Freshman |
14+ | College Sophomore |
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level readability scorecardThe length of text on a page and the usage of elements like lists and tables may make it hard for the test to identify content on a page and result in a score of no readability score.
Keep To help increase your website’s readability, keep the following in mind when writing content:
Be concise
Use bulleted lists and number lists for easier scanning
Use highlighted keywords, like hyperlinks
Use meaningful subheadings
Use the inverted pyramid style
In some cases, the length of text on a page and the use of elements like lists and tables make it hard for the test to identify content on a page. When this happens, the test will generate a result of “no readability score.”