Readability Score
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about readability scores
What is the Flesch Reading Ease score?
The Flesch Reading Ease is a score from 0 to 100 that measures how easy a text is to read: the higher the score, the simpler the text. Values above 80 indicate a very easy text (suitable for everyone), between 60 and 70 a standard text, while values below 30 indicate a very complex text, typical of academic or legal documents. It is based on the average sentence length and the average number of syllables per word.
What does the Flesch-Kincaid grade indicate?
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level translates readability into a US school grade level: a value of 8 means the text is understandable by an eighth-grade student (about 13-14 years old). The lower the number, the more accessible the text. For web and marketing content you usually aim for a grade between 6 and 8, while technical or legal texts can exceed grade 12.
Do these scores work for Italian too?
The Flesch formulas were calibrated on English, but they remain a very useful indicative guide for Italian too: the counting of words, sentences and syllables works correctly in both languages and the analysis here handles accented vowels. Keep in mind that Italian tends to have longer words, so scores may come out slightly lower: interpret them relatively, comparing multiple versions of the same text.
What does the Flesch score measure?
It measures how easy a text is to read, starting from the average length of the sentences and the number of syllables per word. The higher the score, the more the text flows.
What does the grade level tell me?
It turns readability into the school year needed to follow the text without effort. For content meant for everybody it is worth staying around the eighth grade, that is thirteen or fourteen years old.
How do I make a text more readable?
By shortening the sentences, breaking up the ones with several subordinate clauses and choosing shorter, commoner words. Every change shows at once, because the score is worked out again as you type.