Activate the passive voice on the web
Simple sentences — subject, verb, object — are easiest to read, online or off.
That’s why Jan H. Spyridakis, professor of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington, suggests that you:
SENTENCES
How long should a sentence be?
Short sentences are easier to understand than long sentences
Add a word to your sentence, and you’ll reduce comprehension. Add another once, reduce it even further.… Read the full article
Paragraph length: Shorter is better
Hit return more often
Believe it or not, this is an actual paragraph that appeared in an actual publication:
It weighs in at 465 words. It’s the first paragraph in the story.… Read the full article
Measure clarity with readability formulas
How to use Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog indexes
In 1946, a lawyer, author and writing consultant named Rudolph Flesch “started a revolution in journalism and business communication,” writes William Dubay, a readability consultant for Plain Language Services.… Read the full article
Top 2 ways to improve your readability score
Sentence length, word length make messages more readable
Want to see your Flesch Kincaid Grade Level drop? Your Flesch Reading Ease soar? Your Automated Readability Index hit the right target?… Read the full article
Readability score: Going up!
City communicator increases Flesch Reading Ease by 38.8%
Wendy Jorgensen’s job is to deliver city news to Plano, Texas, residents. Although the best way to do that is to make messages as readable as possible, city government messages in general have a reputation for being stodgy, dull and thick.… Read the full article