All About Readability By Cheryl Stephens Why are we looking at
readability tests? The use of readability tests in the plain
language process is a controversial topic. Now that readability
scores are easy to obtain by using computerized grammar and
style checking software programs, there is new pressure to adopt
them. While some people use readability tests to help them make
their writing plainer, other people are fervently opposed to
their use. For example, ten years ago the International Reading
Association and the U.S. National Council of Teachers of English
were advising members against uncritical use of readability
tests to assess educational materials. At about the same time,
two government reports in England validated the accuracy and
reliability of the tests. Some of the disputes about readability
tests arise because people make use of them for different
purposes and different purposes from those that lay behind the
development of the tests. We want to look at the original
reasons for development of re