Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comments. My replies are under yours below.
On Tue, 28 Jan 2003 10:22:41 -0000, Gray, Peter <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>No, but our researchers do. Did you actually read my post? "this is
currently content-free". It only exists at the moment as a way of
communicating with our researchers, who are scattered across eastern
Scotland (not just East Lothian). Apart from the Guidelines section the
current text is only there to fill space so that the structure of the site
could be developed before the six essays were completed. The site has not
been advertised or launched, though it can be found if you search hard
enough for it on Google.
>
Sure, apologies if you thought that was what I was trying to do. I was just
looking for some example content to illustrate my general point about level
of language and of course recognise that this is not for public access yet.
>Regarding readability, I would add that I have found the readability
feature in Word's grammar checker useful in producing text for exhibitions.
>
I think it is a useful tool but few people know HOW they work which is
crucial :-
- the Flesch reading ease (if like the Flesch index) is calculated by a
formula of sentence length and numbers of syllables per 100 words. So, to
make your text more readable, generally the shorter the sentence length and
the fewer the syllables, the more readable the text. The scores are on a 1
to 100 scale but I have never read a 100 - plain english is around 65.
- the Flesch-Kincaid grade level is based on US school grades which do not
equate to a reading age but are as follows :-
Elementary 1
K-1st Grade
5-7 years old
Elementary 2
1st-3rd Grade
7-9 years old
Elementary 3
3rd-5th Grade
9-11 years old
Middle School
5th-8th Grade
11-14 years old
Above 14 Years
High School +
14+ years old
I would suggest that all authors look at some of the tests mentioned on
http://www.timetabler.com/reading.html or other sites. The actual process
of studying your language in detail, rather than putting it through an
automated tool (like the web validators), is extremely valuable.
Yours,
Richard
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