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Test Readability
Check that your content is easily comprehended by your target audience. === What Problem This Solves === You don't know whether your content is written at the appropriate level for your target audience. === When to Use This Pattern === Use this pattern when: #it's imperative that your users can easily understand your content, e.g. product instructions, health information, government policy change, #the content covers complex topics, #your audience may have reading difficulties, or #your content authors are inexperienced. === What's The Solution? === Asking your users if they understand your content may not produce accurate results ([http://www.alistapart.com/articles/testing-content/ source]), but there are other methods for estimating readability. Online tools - such as those by [http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php Juicy Studios] or [http://www.addedbytes.com/code/readability-score/ Added Bytes] - use reading-level algorithms to automatically score the readability of your content. These give you a useful indication, especially for comparing relative scores for numerous content items (e.g. to identify the potential 'worst'), but shouldn't be relied on for critical content. A more time-consuming but accurate solution is to perform a small usability test, by asking sample users to read your content and then quiz them with questions to test their comprehension. You could even integrate a survey module onto relevant pages to semi-automate this process. You could also consider a Cloze test, which is an "''assessment consisting of a portion of text with certain words removed, where the participant is asked to replace the missing words''" ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloze_test source]). [http://www.alistapart.com/articles/testing-content/ Read more about how to conduct a cloze test for web content]. === Why Use This Pattern === We're frequently test the features and user experience of a website, but often assume that the content - often the primary component of a website - is correct. By testing only a small sample of your content, you can quickly adjust your writing style to better meet the needs of your users.<br> === Categories<br> === [[Category:Editorial]]
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