Appendix B: Measuring Readability

IAT includes the Readability Tool, which automatically analyzes texts’ readability for different grade levels. It includes several different measures, including the Gunning Fog Index and Flesch-Kincaid.

The Readability Tool is available on every item and stimulus and provides an analysis of the entire text content of the entity. When a stimulus contains multiple passages, the tool also provides an analysis of each passage.

The tool automatically detects and ignores certain irrelevant elements of the text, such as title, byline, numbering of paragraphs, and more.

To use the tool on the IAT homepage, select Readability in the header to the right of the Paper Content button. A Readability Analysis panel appears on the left. You can collapse this panel by selecting Readability again.

The Readability Analysis panel includes two or three tabs:

• Overall: Provides information on the whole item or stimulus. The Basic Metrics section at the top lists word count and sentence count. Other readability measures may list grade levels, average sentence length, numbers of unique unfamiliar words, and more.

• Passages: Available only on a stimulus containing multiple passages. Provides the same types of data as Overall, but for each passage.

• Info button (not labeled): For each readability measure, this tab provides the formula by which it is calculated. Depending on the measure, an expandable Remarks section may appear, providing more details.