Looking at how to make writing easier to read

Story by Rebecca Monteleone and Jamie Brew; Design + code by Michelle McGhee

Moreover, the simplicity of readability checkers has enabled their widespread adoption. Military engineers use them to help write technical documents. Governments and doctors use them to guide communication for a general audience. Schools and textbook manufacturers use them to tailor reading assignments to particular grade levels and students.

Readability scores are easy to understand. Many people use these scores to help them write. Some groups that use readability scores are:

  • The military.
  • The government.
  • Doctors.
  • Schools.

To better understand how readability scores work—and how they can fail—let’s look at three representative examples.

To better understand how readability scores work—and how they can fail—let’s look at three representative examples.