Readability Screening Tools

A number of readability tools have been developed to determine if text is complex. However, the tools are limited in their ability to measure the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information.

Tool	Uses	Limits
Fry	Calculates reading age in years by counting the number of syllables and number of sentences.	Does not assess content. Requires block test and cannot assess narrative with headers, sub-headers, bullets or pamphlets.
Flesch-Kincaid	Computes readability based on the average number of syllables per word and the average number of words per sentence. The score in this case indicates a grade-school level. Built into Microsoft Word.	Doesn’t allow for bullets or formatting. Results are inconsistent and don’t reflect how text is understood. Does not assess content. Requires block test and cannot assess narrative with headers, sub-headers, bullets or pamphlets.
SMOG	Method used to determine the reading level of written materials. Computes a grade-level score based on complexity of text.	Doesn’t allow for bullets or formatting. Results are inconsistent and don’t reflect how text is understood. “Mississippi” would be counted as a complex word. Does not assess content. Requires block test and cannot assess narrative with headers, sub-headers, bullets or pamphlets.

Tool

Uses

Limits

Fry

Calculates reading age in years by counting the number of syllables and number of sentences.

Does not assess content.

Requires block test and cannot assess narrative with headers, sub-headers, bullets or pamphlets.

Flesch-Kincaid

Computes readability based on the average number of syllables per word and the average number of words per sentence. The score in this case indicates a grade-school level.

Built into Microsoft Word.

Doesn’t allow for bullets or formatting.

Results are inconsistent and don’t reflect how text is understood.

Does not assess content.

Requires block test and cannot assess narrative with headers, sub-headers, bullets or pamphlets.

SMOG

Method used to determine the reading level of written materials.

Computes a grade-level score based on complexity of text.

Doesn’t allow for bullets or formatting.

Results are inconsistent and don’t reflect how text is understood.

“Mississippi” would be counted as a complex word.

Does not assess content.

Requires block test and cannot assess narrative with headers, sub-headers, bullets or pamphlets.

None of these readability tools can tell you:

how complex the ideas are
whether or not the content is in a logical order
if the vocabulary is appropriate for the audience
if there is a gender, class or cultural bias
if the design is attractive and helps or hinders the reader
if the format or type style is easy or hard to read