Is my text too difficult to read?
Score any type of text ...
Readability Scoring System v2 will analyze English-language text and score the "reading ease" or "reading difficulty" of your text based on popular readability formulas. You'll find out the type of readers who are most likely to understand your text, including their grade level and age. (If you need to score Spanish text, go to
SpanishReadability.com)
1. GET STARTED
Paste your text into the text area or upload a .txt, .pdf or MS-Word file from your computer. For other types of documents, copy the text to your device's clipboard, then paste into our system's text area. For texts exceeding 2K words, you can process random samples of your text. You can select this option below the text area. (During our beta-testing, we are limiting text size to 3,500 words).
2. FOR BEST RESULTS
Make sure your text is spell-checked beforehand. Misspellings can alter results. Each sentence should end with a punctuation mark, otherwise run-on sentences can alter results. Abbreviated words should be correctly abbreviated (Mr. or Mrs. not Mr or Mrs). A clean, properly-formatted and grammatically-correct text will yield the best results.
3. SELECT A FORMULA
If you don't know which readability formula is best suited for your text, then use our
Average Reading Level Consensus Calc. It will automatically select (7) popular formulas suited for all types of text. For a word-based formula, most writers prefer the Dale-Chall Readability Formula because it is used for all types of texts. For a graph-based formula, the Fry Graph is widely-used. Otherwise, feel free to experiment.
4. FINE-TUNE OUR SYSTEM
Open the "System Settings" (below the formulas) and change default settings to fine-tune how the scoring system processes your text. Click on any [ ? ] to get more information about the option.
5. READY, SET, GO!
When you're ready, hit the "Calculate Text Readability" button. Our system will analyze and score your text and output the information on a new page.
6. WORD STATS ONLY
If you need a fast way to see "Word Statistics" for your text, select any formula and hit the "Calculate Text Readability" button. Our system will process your text and output important stats, such as syllable count, average sentence length, number of abbreviations, proper nouns, passive voice, etc.
If you'd like to learn more about readability formulas and their importance to text comprehension, then go to our
ARTICLES SECTION.
Average Reading Level Consensus Calc
The
Average Readability Consensus Calc analyzes your writing and calculates the number of sentences, words, syllables, and characters. Our program plugs these calculations into seven popular readability formulas. These readability formulas (see below) will let you know the reading difficulty and grade level of your text and help you determine if your audience can read your writing.
The Automated Readability Index
The Automated Readability Index (ARI) is a popular readability formula that measures the difficulty of English text. It was developed by researchers in the United States Air Force in the 1960s as a tool to assess the readability of technical manuals and other instructional materials. The ARI calculates a readability score based on the average number of characters per word and the average number of words per sentence. It provides an estimate of the grade level required to understand the text.
The Flesch Reading Ease Formula
The Flesch Reading Ease Formula is a simple approach to assess the grade-level of the reader. It's also one of the few accurate measures around that we can rely on without too much scrutiny. This formula is best used on school text, but it has since become a standard readability formula used by many US Government Agencies, organizations, and businesses. We use the formula to score the difficulty of English texts.
The Gunning Fog Index
The Gunning Fog Index measures the readability of English text. The formula calculates a grade level based on the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words. Gunning Fog is widely used to score digital content, articles, documents, and educational text books.
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level is a readability formula that measures the difficulty of English text. It analyzes both sentence length and word complexity to determine the readability of a text. It considers longer sentences and words with more syllables to indicate a higher difficulty level. It is a useful tool for evaluating the readability of texts, especially in educational and publishing contexts.
The Coleman-Liau Index
The Coleman-Liau Index is a readability formula that measures the difficulty of English text. It provides an estimate of the grade level required to understand the text. The Coleman-Liau focuses on the average number of letters and sentences, rather than syllables or complex words. It assumes that longer words and longer sentences make the text more difficult to read.
The SMOG Index
The SMOG Index, also known as the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, is a readability formula designed to estimate the reading level required to understand written text. The SMOG Index is particularly useful for evaluating longer texts, such as articles, reports, or books. The SMOG Index is considered a reliable measure of readability because it focuses on the presence of polysyllabic words, which are often indicators of complex vocabulary and sentence structures.
Linsear Write
Linsear Write is a readability formula to score the difficulty of English text. The U.S. Air Force first developed the Linsear Write Formula to help calculate the readability of their technical manuals. Like many useful readability formulas, the Linsear Write calculates the U.S. grade level of a text sample based on sentence length and the number of words with three or more syllables.
FORCAST Readability Formula
FORCAST scores the difficulty of specialized or advanced texts, such as technical materials, documents, manuals, and procedural writings. Unlike other readability formulas that score narrative texts, the FORCAST formula focuses on one-syllable words in a text, which is more relevant for non-narrative texts. FORCAST is ideal for texts above a 6th grade reading level.
The Fry Readability Graph
The Fry Readability Graph is a formula plus graph for assessing the readability of texts. The grade levels on the graph range from 1 to 12, with 1 being the easiest and 12 being the most difficult. The formula assumes that longer sentences and words with more syllables make the text more challenging. The formula can be a helpful tool for educators and publishers to match texts for specific grade levels or reading skills.
The Raygor Graph
The Raygor Graph assesses the readability of texts based on two factors: sentence length and the number of "hard words" per sentence. It is commonly used in educational settings to find the reading level of books, handouts, and other materials. The grade levels on the graph range from 1 to 12, with 1 being the easiest and 12 being the most difficult. The formula assumes that longer sentences and a higher number of hard words make the text more challenging.
Dale-Chall Readability Formula
The Dale-Chall Readability Formula calculates a U.S. grade level based on the number of difficult words with average sentence length. Using its wordlist of familiar words, the formula will let you know if your text is too difficult to read within this age group. We score your text using both the original and updated Dale-Chall Formulas.
The Spache Readability Formula
The Spache Readability Formula is used to assess the reading level of texts, especially for young readers. It was designed to evaluate reading materials for students in grades 1 to 6. The formula calculates the grade level based on two factors: the number of familiar words and the number of sentences. It scores a text's readability by the percentage of familiar words it contains.
The Fry Sight 1000 Words Assessment
The Fry Sight Words is a curated wordlist, separated into sets of words by grade level, of frequently-used English words. Our system will analyze your text to determine its readability level and at which grade level students can comprehend your words. (
Learn more about Fry Sight Words )
Lexical Density/Diversity Analysis
Lexical density and lexical diversity are measures used in text analysis to evaluate and describe the richness and complexity of vocabulary within a text. For example, a children's book will have a different lexical density and diversity than an academic research paper. Use our tool to analyze the "richness" of your writing style.