Tech Roundup: Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

Website: https://goodcalculators.com/flesch-kincaid-calculator/

What it does: Provides scores reflecting how difficult a piece of writing is to read. More specifically, it’s based on the Flesch Reading Ease Score and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

Overview of the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

• Flesch Reading Ease Score

  • Rates how readable a text is on a scale of 0-100 (where 100 is easiest and 0 is hardest)

  • The scores equate to (U.S.) educational levels needed to easily read the text. E.g. a text with score of about 70 to 80 requires the equivalent of a 7th grade education

  • The score is calculated with this formula: 206.835 − 1.015 × (Total Words / Total Sentences ) − 84.6 × (Total Syllables / Total Words)
    

• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

  • Shows educational level needed to read a piece of writing

  • Scores correspond to U.S. grade levels (E.g., a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 7 would require the reader to have a 9th grade education or equivalent) 

  • The level is calculated with this formula: The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level = 0.39 × (Total Words / Total Sentences) + 11.8 × (Total Syllables / Total Words) − 15.59

How Does the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator Work?

It’s simple: just paste your text into the input box and click the “Calculate” button to get your scores.

 In addition to giving you results for Flesch Readability Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level it also returns useful stats like:

• Reading Level (gives a grade level and how easy it is to read)

• Average number of words per sentence 

• Average number of syllables per word

• Total number of sentences

• Total word count

Why Use the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator?

At its core, medical writing is about communicating often complex concepts to a range of readers. Those readers vary from piece to piece and can include anyone from an MD/PhD to a pediatric patient who speaks English as a second language. If you’re working on a lot of articles, especially under tight deadlines, it can be challenging to keep track of the reading level of every assignment. Let the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator take the guesswork out of figuring out how “readable” your writing is, so you can focus on putting out top-notch work!