Accessibility and readability

[Fallen Angel]

Guideline 14 of the WCAG requires that web documents are clear and simple. It can be difficult to guage just how clear and simple your page of lovingly crafted copy is though. Readability tests are used a lot in the educational world, and they can give a rough idea of how easy to understand your text is, but they're a PITA to calculate, what with counting syllables, words, and paragraphs. Juicy Studio though has a nice little tool that'll calculate the readability of a page given it's URL. It's somewhat inaccurate, because if you've got a page that's short on text, as it includes all words, including navigation, it can skew the results, but it'll give you a rough idea of how clear your text is.

http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php

[Caz]

Result for http://www.doracat.co.uk/index.html

Gunning Fog Index
      5.74

Just about right for the knuckle-draggers around here.  I remember when I had to calculate this stuff with pen and paper  But there is another test which should be added to get an overall result and it's called the Closure test. As an example mask every 10th word in a piece of text and then see how many right guesses are made. The brain has an enormous capacity for filling gaps. Well, normal brains do anyway. 

[Fallen Angel]

Mine was never normal. 

Yeah, I remember calculating them manually as well, when I was teaching, and when we've produced literature at work - total PITA to do. Good point about the Closure test - I'd forgotten that one.

[Caz]

I liked the Closure test because it was the easiest one to calculate, but you do have to have a few willing victims. 

[lydiajude]

One area of accessibility often overlooked is the readability of the content of your web pages.
Not every user may be familiar with terms or terminology being used. Others may not have the same socio-political background, literacy skills or capacity to fully comprehend what it is you are saying. One goal of the content author then is to try and identify their target audience, and then ensures that they are not "writing over their heads".