The document discusses the importance of readability in written content, emphasizing the need for clarity to ensure understanding, especially in professional documents like proposals. It highlights the Flesch Reading Ease formula for measuring readability and suggests that companies should simplify their writing based on their audience's comprehension abilities. Additionally, it recommends using readability analysis tools that allow customization of elements considered important for achieving effective communication.

1. Solutions is Our Name
© 2020 Atebion, LLC

2. Readability
• Readability
• Flesch Reading Ease
• Why should you care about Readability?
• Elements
• Ranking – What’s important to you?
2020.01.29

3. Readability
“Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand a written text.” Wikipedia
For the last decade and more, there has been a push to improve readability. Much of this push was driven by
the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Reference: https://www.plainlanguage.gov/law/
In 2011 the Federal Government released a Plain language Guidelines document that provides details on
simplifying your content. The Guidelines address various elements of sentences and paragraphs. See link for
the Plain language Guidelines pdf https://www.plainlanguage.gov/media/FederalPLGuidelines.pdf

4. Flesch Reading Ease
Since 2011, companies have developed software tools that measure the complexity of textual content. The
most common formula for measuring readability is the Flesch Reading Ease. The higher the score, the easier
the material is to read.
Readability Information test score reference window in the New Edition of Professional Document Analyzer.

5. Flesch Reading Ease
Some real-world examples of Flesch Reading Ease readability approximation scores:
65 Reader's Digest magazine
52 Time magazine
30 Harvard Law Review
57.9 Moby Dick (ref. Amazon)
Complexity is affective by the number of syllables in the words and the number of words per sentence, as
shown in the formula below.

6. Why should you care about Readability?
You want your readers to clearly understand the information you and your team are providing. This is essential
when you are responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP). An overly complex proposal may cause you to lose the
contract.
Your material should be written in mind of the people who will be reading it. The more educated your audience
is, the more complex your content can be. However, you should still attempt to write as clearly as possible.
Certainly, not everyone who is educated can easily understand complex content. For example, people who have
a reading disorder, such as Dyslexia have an average or above-average intelligence.
Famous Dyslexics:
Albert Einstein
Leonardo da Vinci
John F. Kennedy
George W. Bush

7. Elements
When testing textual content, the Flesch Reading Ease score is typically the primary factor in determining if
the content should be rewritten for improved simplicity.
However, there are other textual elements that should be qualified for measurement. Such as the following
elements:
Long Sentences
Complex Words
Passive Voice
Adverbs
Terms that should be avoided

8. Elements
Atebion’s New Edition of the Professional Document Analyzer captures textual elements (denoted in the
previous slide) during the QC Readability Analysis process.

9. Ranking – What is important to you?
Capturing the quantity sum of each element (e.g. Long Sentences) creates its own complexity in determining what should be rewritten.
Atebion addresses this issue by providing an overall Ranking for each paragraph or numbered segment.
However, Atebion’s Ranking may not reflect you or your teams’ preferences. That is why we give you the ability to define what is
important to you per element (e.g. Not Important, Important, Somewhat Important, and Very Important).
Being able to quickly identify what should be rewritten when a limited time restraint exists is critical.

10. Summary
Running a readability analysis of all your essential documents will improve your company’s overall
reputation. Therefore, ensuring that your company’s information is easily understood.
Before writing, knowing your audience is critical to your success. Do your research on who will be reading
your document. For a large audience, keep your textual content as simple as possible.
Using a readability analysis tool that provides you the flexibility to adjust “what is important to you”
spotlights areas that should be addressed. Plus gives you the ability to do this quickly.

11. Thank You!
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