How easy a piece of text is to read and understand, shaped by sentence length, word choice, and layout. It's often estimated with formulas that map text to a school grade level.
Synonyms
- reading ease
Related terms
- plain language
- scannability
- legibility
- content design
In plain words
- how easy something is to read
- whether text is a slog or a breeze
Usage example
The editor flagged the paragraph's readability as college-level and suggested shorter sentences.
Don't confuse with…
- legibilityLegibility is whether letters are easy to tell apart visually; readability is whether the words and sentences are easy to comprehend.
Categories
- Content & UX writing