Readability

How ScanGov measures the readability of your content.

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ScanGov measures how easy a page is to read using two established readability formulas:

• Automated Readability Index (ARI) — estimates the U.S. grade level needed to understand a page, based on characters per word and words per sentence.
• Flesch-Kincaid grade level — a similar grade-level estimate, based on syllables per word and words per sentence.

Plain language matters for government sites: content written above a general reading level is harder for residents to understand and act on. Readability is its own indicator with one check, reading level. A page passes when its Automated Readability Index, rounded to the nearest whole number, is at or below 8 (about a 7th grade reading level). ScanGov does not score reading level on pages that are not in English or that have no measurable text, so those pages neither pass nor fail.

Features

• Readability