Tools for Testing Plain English Writing
The aim of this section is to show you how to check the plain English levels of your work.
The key points covered include:
• What readability scores are
• Setting up readability scores
• Meeting the scores
Word processing applications such as Microsoft Word automatically check your spelling and grammar. But they can also let you know readability scores. This is where it works out your levels of plain English for the document you have written. The scores then tell you if your work is easy for people to understand or not. You should check the readability scores for every written document you produce.
What readability scores are
There are three readability scores. Each one bases its rating on the average number of syllables per word and words per sentence:
Passive sentences: Word will tell you the percentage of your sentences that are passive. Make sure that no more than 25 per cent of your sentences are passive.
Flesch Reading Ease score: This rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard documents, your score must be at least 50.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: This rates text on American school grades. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader (a fourteen year old) can understand the document. For most standard documents, your score must be no higher than 10. The highest, or worst, possible score is 12.
Setting up readability scores
For Microsoft Word:
- Open Microsoft Word
- Then on Tools, click on Options
- On Options, click on Spelling and Grammar
- Tick box marked Show readability statistics
Once you have set up Word to check your levels of plain English, the readability scores will appear when you click on the spelling and grammar button. This is the icon with the tick and the ABC letters on.
Meeting the scores
This is how to achieve better scores:
• Use shorter words
• Use active sentences
• Write as you would speak
Example
Before readability check:
"Under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, the council can intervene when neighbours have been unable to settle disputes over high hedges. In adjudicating on whether a hedge is preventing occupants' reasonable enjoyment of their home or garden, the council will take account of, and strike a balance between, the competing interests of the complainant and the hedge owner, as well as the interests of the wider community."
67 Words: Passive 0 per cent:
Reading ease 22.5: Grade level 12
The above example has poor readability scores.
After readability check:
"By law we can act as a go-between for neighbours disputing high hedges. We will decide if the height of a hedge is stopping someone from enjoying their home or garden. When making this decision we will look at a range of issues. This will include the interests of both the complainant and the hedge owner."
56 words: Passive 0 per cent:
Reading ease 73.2: Grade level 6.5
This version has much better scores and is a lot easier to understand. It gives readers the same information but without the official language.
If you have problems with your readability scores you can check individual paragraphs and sentences as well as the finished document. This lets you identify any problem areas causing the poor scores.
- Highlight the paragraph or sentence and click on the spelling and grammar icon.
- Word will ask if you want it to continue to check the rest of the document. Click no and it will then show you the readability scores for that paragraph.