Literacy rate in America by the numbers

Readability  
by the numbers

“This is too easy  
to read.”
Kate Meyer, “Writing Compelling Digital Copy,” Nielsen Norman Group, San Francisco UX Conference

“This is too easy  
to read.”
— Nobody ever
Kate Meyer, “Writing Compelling Digital Copy,” Nielsen Norman Group, San Francisco UX Conference

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Nonliterate Below basic Basic Intermediate Proﬁcient
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%
U.S. literacy, Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, 2013
> 1/2
> 1/2 of U.S. adults read at basic level or below.

That means most can … But most cannot …
• Sign forms
• Compare ticket prices for two
events
• Look up shows in a TV guide
• Find places on a map
• Calculate the cost of office
supplies from a catalog
• Compare viewpoints in two
editorials

“The problem with
communication  
is the illusion that it  
has been accomplished.”George Bernard Shaw

4% of U.S. adults can’t read well enough  
to take a literacy test.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%

Locate a single piece of
information in familiar copy
Identify which candidate
earned the fewest votes from
a simple table identifying
three candidates and the
number of votes they each
received

14% of U.S. adults read at below basic levels.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%

Identify which candidate earned
the fewest votes from a simple
table identifying three
candidates and the number of
votes they each received
Count the number of countries
in which the generic drug
market accounts for 10% or
more of drug sales from two
paragraphs and a chart of
generic drug use in 15
countries

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%
34% of U.S. adults read at basic levels.

Count the number of countries
in which the generic drug
market accounts for 10% or
more of drug sales from two
paragraphs and a chart of
generic drug use in 15 countries
Identify the link leading to the
organization’s phone number
from a website with several
links, including “contact us”
and “FAQ”

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%
36% of U.S. adults  
read at an intermediate level.

Identify the link leading to the
organization’s phone number
from a website with several
links, including “contact us”
and “FAQ”
Click to the second page of
search results from a library
website to identify the author
of a book called Ecomyth

12% of U.S. adults read at proficient levels.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%

Click to the second page of
search results from a library
website to identify the author
of a book called Ecomyth
Review search results from a
library website to identify a
book suggesting that the
claims made both for and
against genetically modified
foods are unreliable

Too few U.S. adults to count  
read at advanced levels.
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
12%
36%
34%
14%
4%

In this environment,  
how do we  
reach more readers? …

Rev Up Readability
April 1-2 | Austin, TX | bit.ly/RevUpReadability  
Save $100: LinkedIn100

Literacy rate in America by the numbers

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Literacy rate in America by the numbers