Readability

Readability Best Practices

Cut back on words.

Use as few words as possible to communicate.

Too many words:

Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute to sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air.

Less words:

Here's how I became the prince of Bel Air.

We often use fillers in conversations. In writing, fillers don't add extra meaning to our sentences and add unnecessary words to your web content. Avoiding fillers will make your writing more clear and powerful.

Common Filler Words

These words can usually be taken out of your sentence and your sentence still makes sense:

• that - I wish that the sun would come out.  I wish the sun would come out.
• just - I just want the sun to come out.  I want the sun to come out.
• very - The sun is very hot.  The sun is hot.
• really - I really don't understand why the sun won't come out.  I don't understand why the sun won't come out.
• totally - I will totally go outside when the sun comes out.  I will go outside when the sun comes out.
• quite - The sun feels quite nice today.  The sun feels nice today.
• actually - If the sun actually comes out, I will go outside.  If the sun comes out, I will go outside.
• commonly - People commonly feel it is a nice day when the sun is out.  People feel it is a nice day when the sun is out.
• please, thank you, and other polite words - Will you please tell me when the sun comes out?  Will you tell me when the sun comes out?

Common Filler Phrases

These phrases have shorter alternatives that mean the same thing or can be avoided because they do not add meaning to your sentence:

• Due to the fact -  Because
• All of the -  All the
• As to whether -  Whether
• At all times - avoid
• For all intents and purposes - avoid
• In the event that -  If
• In order to -  To
• It is important to note/Note that - avoid
• With regard to -  Regarding

Use simple sentences.

A sentence on the web should contain one thought. On occasion, a simple sentence can contain two connected thoughts.

Complicated sentence:

When I got home from work, the house was messy because all the dishes were piled in the sink from the day's breakfast and lunch, and last night's dinner, and the laundry wasn't folded as it lay across the couch.

This sentence contains a few different points on why the house was messy. Breaking up these thoughts makes this easier to read.

Simple sentence:

When I got home from work, the house was messy. The dishes were piled in the sink from previous meals. There was unfolded laundry on the couch.

Break up your paragraphs.

As a guide, paragraphs on a website should include one or two sentences. Having too many sentences in a paragraph makes information harder to find.

Long paragraph:

Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, evening tv? How did I get to living here? Somebody tell me please! This old world's confusing me. With clouds as mean as you've ever seen, ain't a bird who knows your tune. Then a little voice inside you whispers, "Kid don't sell your dreams so soon." Everywhere you look, everywhere you go there's a heart, a hand to hold onto.

Web paragraphs:

Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, evening tv?

How did I get to living here? Somebody tell me please!

This old world's confusing me. With clouds as mean as you've ever seen, ain't a bird who knows your tune.

Then a little voice inside you whispers, "Kid don't sell your dreams so soon."

Everywhere you look, everywhere you go there's a heart, a hand to hold onto.

Lists help break up paragraphs, too.

If you find yourself using more than three commas to list things off in a sentence, try using a bulleted list instead. Lists are easier to scan for information.

Too many commas:

I need to pick up eggs, bread, milk, bananas, cereal, peanut butter, coffee, crackers, and a frozen pizza at the store.

Bulleted list:

At the store, I need to pick up:

• eggs
• bread
• milk
• bananas
• cereal
• peanut butter
• coffee
• crackers
• frozen pizza

Avoid compound lists. These are lists within a list or sub-bullets. Compound lists can be confusing, particularly for non-visual users and those navigating with assistive technologies.

Compound list example:

• Grocery Store
  • eggs
  • bread
    • white
    • honey wheat
  • milk
    • 2%
    • Whole
  • bananas
  • cereal
• Hardware Store
  • nails
  • bucket
  • rake

Instead, consider breaking complicated lists into separate sections with formatted headings.

Get rid of exformation.

Exformation is content that your audience doesn't need to know or already knows. Exformation does not need to be mentioned or included in your web content.

Content with exformation:

Once you get to the store, park your car in the parking lot. Turn off your car and open the driver's side door. Don't forget to close the door behind you.

Walk into the store and grab bananas, bread, and milk.

People already know how to park their cars and to close the door. The only information needed is what to get at the store. The rest is exformation.

Avoid complicated words.

Use simple language and terms that are common knowledge to your audience.

Sometimes you can't avoid big words, especially in higher ed. These words might give you a higher readability grade. If you can't avoid a big word, add an easier substitute word to get a better sense of your readability.

For example, the program  Business Information Systems Business Analytics  is a long name with big words. If you're writing about this program, you can't avoid its name. Replace the program name with a simple word like cat or dog to get a better sense of your overall readability score.

"Business Information Systems Business Analytics faculty have a wide range of business backgrounds."  Readability:  16

"Cat faculty have a wide range of business backgrounds."  Readability:  Grade 7

This trick got the sentence down nine grade levels.

Write in active voice.

Passive voice is when you make the action of your sentence the subject. People write in passive voice to sound professional. In reality, passive voice is harder to read and understand. It should only be used when it serves a purpose.

Write in active voice to make your content strong and readable.

Passive voice example:  The research paper was written by Professor Lizzo.

Active voice example:  Professor Lizzo wrote the research paper.

Use strong verbs.

Don't turn your verb into a noun. Like fillers, this adds length to your sentence with unnecessary words.

Weak to Strong Verb Examples:

• Make a decision -  Decide
• Conduct a survey -  Survey
• Do a review -  Review
• Perform a test -  Test