Scoring readability analysis

Readability analysis is a collection of assessments that check how easy it is to read a text. Some of the readability assessments are language-independent (e.g. paragraph length, subheading presence and distribution), but many are language-specific (e.g. passive voice, transition words) and are developed on a case-by-case basis. As such, which assessments are currently available will depend on the specific language (an overview of the available language-specific assessments can be found here.

Below is a detailed overview of how scores for the readability assessments are calculated, as well as the feedback that each assessment returns. Note: some of the assessment criteria are different for texts marked as cornerstone; these will be indicated when applicable. Also, some assessment criteria (e.g. recommended sentence length) differ depending on the specific language. These are not specified below for the sake of space saving.

How are individual bullets assigned?

Individual score	Rating	Individual penalty points
0 (if it is not explicitly set as a score)	Feedback (gray)	-
0-4	Bad (red circle)	3 (partial support: 4)
5-7	OK (orange circle)	2
8-10	Good (Green circle)	0

How is the overall score calculated?

Sum of penalty points	Total score	Divide by 10:
6 (partial: 4)	30	3
4 (partial: 2)	60	6
<4 (partial: <2)	90	9

Individual assessments

1) Subheading distribution

What it does: Checks whether long texts are divided by subheadings

Name in code: SubheadingsDistributionTooLong

Title URL: https://yoa.st/34x (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/34y (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	2	No subheadings in a text with more than 300 words.	Subheading distribution: You are not using any subheadings, although your text is rather long. Try and add some subheadings.
Red	3	Subheading followed by more than 350 words (cornerstone: 300)	Subheading distribution: X sections of your text are longer than X words and are not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability.
Orange	6	Subheading followed by 300-350 words (cornerstone: 250-300)	Subheading distribution: X sections of your text are longer than X words and are not separated by any subheadings. Add subheadings to improve readability.
Green	9	No subheadings in a text with 300 or less words.	Subheading distribution: You are not using any subheadings, but your text is short enough and probably doesn't need them.
Green	9	At least 1 subheading present.	Subheading distribution: Great job!

2) Paragraph length

What it does: Checks whether the paragraphs exceed the recommended maximum length

Name in code: ParagraphTooLongAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/35d (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/35e (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	> 200 words	Paragraph length: X of the paragraphs contain more than the recommended maximum of X words. Shorten your paragraphs!
Orange	6	Between 150 and 200 words	Paragraph length: X of the paragraphs contain more than the recommended maximum of X words. Shorten your paragraphs!
Green	9	≤ 150 words	Paragraph length: none of the paragraphs are too long. Great job!

3) Sentence length

What it does: Checks whether the sentences exceed the recommended maximum length (default: 20 words, IT: 25 words, RU: 15 words, HE: 15 words, TR: 15 words)

Name in code: SentenceLengthInTextAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/34v (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/34w (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	> 30% (cornerstone: 25%)	Sentence length: X of the sentences contain more than X words, which is more than the recommended maximum of X. Try to shorten the sentences.
Orange	6	Between 25 and 30% (cornerstone: 20-25%, Turkish: 20-25%, Polish: 15-20%)	Sentence length: X of the sentences contain more than X words, which is more than the recommended maximum of X. Try to shorten the sentences.
Green	9	≤ 25% (cornerstone: ≤ 20%; Polish: ≤ 15%)	Sentence length: great!

4) Consecutive sentences

What it does: Checks whether there are more than 3 sentences in a row that start with the same word

Name in code: SentenceBeginningsAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/35f (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/35g (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	3 or more consecutive sentences start with the same word	Consecutive sentences: the text contains X consecutive sentences starting with the same word. Try to mix things up!
Green	9	Less than 3 consecutive sentences start with the same word	Consecutive sentences: there is enough variety in your sentences. That's great!

5) Passive voice

What it does: Checks whether the number of sentences containing passive voice exceeds the recommended maximum amount

Name in code: PassiveVoiceAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/34t (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/34u (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	> 15% of sentences	Passive voice: X of the sentences contain passive voice, which is more than the recommended maximum of X. Try to use their active counterparts.
Orange	6	Between 10 and 15% of sentences	Passive voice: X of the sentences contain passive voice, which is more than the recommended maximum of X. Try to use their active counterparts.
Green	9	≤ 10% of sentences	Passive voice: you're using enough active voice. That's great!

6) Transition words

What it does: Checks whether there are enough sentences containing transition words

When applies: When there is at least 200 words in the text

Name in code: TransitionWordsAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/34z (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/35a (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	< 20% of sentences	Transition words: Only X of the sentences contain them. This is not enough. Use more transition words.
Orange	6	Between 20 and 30% of sentences	Transition words: Only X of the sentences contain them. This is not enough. Use more transition words.
Green	9	≥ 30% of sentences	Transition words: Well done!

7) Flesch Reading Ease

What it does: Checks how easy to read the text is according to the Flesch Reading Ease test

Name in code: FleschReadingEaseAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/34r (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/34s (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	< 30	Flesch Reading Ease: The copy scores X in the test, which is considered X to read. Try to make shorter sentences, using less difficult words to improve readability.
Red	3	Between 30 and 50	Flesch Reading Ease: The copy scores X in the test, which is considered X to read. Try to make shorter sentences, using less difficult words to improve readability.
Orange	6	Between 50 and 60	Flesch Reading Ease: Flesch Reading Ease: The copy scores X in the test, which is considered X to read. Try to make shorter sentences to improve readability.
Green	9	> 60	Flesch Reading Ease: Flesch Reading Ease: The copy scores X in the test, which is considered X to read. Good job!

8) Text presence

What it does: Checks whether there is enough text in the copy

Name in code: TextPresenceAssessment

Title URL: https://yoa.st/35h (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Call to action URL: https://yoa.st/35i (link placement is in bold in the feedback strings)

Bullet	Score	Criterion	Feedback
Red	3	< 50 characters	Not enough content: please add some content to enable a good analysis.