How to Check Readability Statistics in Microsoft Word [Tutorial]
129How to Check Readability Statistics in Microsoft Word [Tutorial]
In Microsoft Word, there’s a little-known feature about the application Readability Statistics that allows a user to display readability statistics as a part of the spelling and grammar check. Specifically, the feature displays information about the reading level of the document, including readability scores based on the following tests:
Flesch Reading Ease
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
The above-mentioned readability tests are sort of a procedure for testing the level of difficulty to understand a content in the English language. Each readability test has its rating calculated on the average number of syllables per word and words present in each sentence.
A short description of the test will help avoid confusion and clear some air.
Flesch Reading Ease: Statistically calculates the readability of your content on a scale that ranges between 0-100. A lower score indicates that the content is more difficult to apprehend. If the score for your content is 100%, then your content is 100% readable, and it can be easily understood by everyone.
Microsoft Word and Outlook have long featured the ability to view “readability” statistics for what you’re writing, so you know how simple or complex you’re writing is. This can help ensure your writing is readable enough for your intended audience.
In older versions of Word, the feature was just a click away on your status bar. In versions starting with 2013, you have to enable the feature first, and then access it by running a spell and grammar check.
Checking spelling and grammar in Word and Outlook happen in the Proofing Panel, and offer a fairly solid way of proofing documents. There are some better grammar-checking add-ins for Office out there, but even if you have those enabled, you’ll still need to enable the built-in grammar checking to be able to use the readability statistics. Whether that’s worth it is really up to you. And if you don’t mind having grammar checking active, but just prefer not to be distracted by the squiggly underlines while you work, you can always turn off spelling and grammar checking while you type.
Flesch –Kincaid Grade Level: Helps a person know how many years of education does one need to understand your level of writing. To try this, simply add 5 to the grade number, and you will get to know the average age of a person who can read your content.
You need to strike a balance between the above two tests to have the better readability of your content
This tutorial will apply for computers, laptops, desktops,and tablets running the Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7 operating systems.Works for all major computer manufactures (Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung).