The five lost letters of the English language
Most of us know the English alphabet backwards and forwards. We learned our letters as children and we forever have the ear-worm of the alphabet song stuck in our heads, but did you know that there were actually a few letters that didn’t quite make the cut for our modern alphabet? After Christianity took over […]
2 April 2017 by
Dave Child
Readability and the Gunning Fog Index
The Gunning Fog index is a commonly cited readability formula. Find out what the scores mean, the origins of the formula and how you can best use it.
27 March 2017 by
Laura Kelly
Death by (poor) readability
At least 6 out of 10 US adults who have internet access use the internet to look up health information. We are all self-diagnosing, self-prescribing and generally bypassing a visit to the GP in exchange for a quick search on Google. And it’s not just the internet where we get acquainted with health advice.
27 March 2017 by
Ruth Colmer
Mistakes were made: understanding passive voice
Listen to someone trying to explain a high-profile error, and you’ll probably hear them say something like “Mistakes were made in carrying out the plan” or “The wrong envelope was given to the presenter.”
12 March 2017 by Dave Child
We support read aloud
Reading aloud to children is strongly correlated with better education outcomes – or, to put it another way, the kids that top the class are far more likely to have been read aloud to by their parents.
27 February 2017 by Dave Child
Inspire your way out of writer’s block
Every writer will at some point be faced with writer’s block. So, how can you tempt inspiration out of the shadows and words onto the page?
24 February 2017 by Ruth Colmer
The importance of readability of user generated content
Marketers have become increasingly aware of the importance of readability in getting customers engaged in their products and services. By ensuring text is easily readable, marketers can communicate their messages in a clear and engaging way their customers will respond to.
22 February 2017 by Ruth Colmer
The Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
Flesch readability scores are the most popular and are the most widely tested and used. We'll explain what the Flesch and Flesch-Kincaid readability scores are and how to interpret and use them.
26 January 2017 by Laura Kelly
Readability for marketers
You have a product or service that you want to sell. But in order to make sales you need potential customers to engage with your message about that commodity. Without engagement the potential customer is not going to click through and purchase what you have to offer.
12 December 2016 by Ruth Colmer
5 steps to improving readability
A readability score is a computer-calculated index which can tell you roughly what level of education someone will need to be able to read a piece of text easily.
24 October 2016 by
Steve Linney
Readability for authors
You have an idea for a novel, a short story, an article. It has everything – complex characters, suspense, and a killer of an ending. All you need to do is transform it into a beautifully polished piece that conveys the characters and their story exactly how they appear in your head.
22 October 2016 by Ruth Colmer
For presidential hopefuls, simpler language resonates
When Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign, he decried the lack of intelligence of elected officials in characteristically blunt terms. “How stupid are our leaders?” he said. “How stupid are they?” But with his own choice of words and his short, simple sentences, Trump’s speech could have been comprehended by a fourth-grader. Yes, a fourth-grader.
20 October 2015 by Steve Linney
