Formula to Measure Readability Another study by User Interface Engineering, a Massachusetts consulting firm, tested nine Web sites for a variety of design factors influencing ease of use. As part of the study, Jared M. Spool and other researchers used formulas that calculate readability, such as the Gunning Fog Index. This tool measures readability based on the average number of words, sentences and syllables. The researchers found that Web users find information better in online text that contains fewer conjunctions and lacks standard grammatical structures. The study presumed that users were skimming text in search of information, not reading it thoroughly. They found that writing for the Web may require shorter sentences with simpler words. Embedded links surrounded by text were another deterrent to readability. The researchers found that links contained within a sentence make it harder for readers to find information. Readers who skim tend to look for links. If links are buried inside text, they slow the readers' progress and are more difficult to understand, the study says.
Clicking vs. scrolling
In early studies conducted by researchers Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes, the majority of users preferred to click rather than scroll below one screen to get information. In their 1997 study on writing for the Web, they found that readers are becoming more receptive to scrolling past one screen if the content interests them. My own studies with journalism students for the past two years revealed similar findings. Five unscientific surveys showed that in 1997 more students wanted to click through screens than scroll. In the most recent survey conducted in 1999, students were evenly divided among the clickers or scrollers. In all the experiments, almost all the students said they scanned when they read text on the Web instead of reading stories thoroughly. Their comments were more revealing. Those who favored chunks of text with links to click to the next part:
"I seem to lose my place when I scroll."
"Clicking is a more active thing. It seems more engaged."
"Scrolling tires your eyes because you have to pay attention to the moving lines in order not to scroll too far." Those who favored scrolling:
"I hate waiting for the next page to load."
"I'm a scroller because I like to have everything on one page, and it is easy to move up and down with the scroll. I like to click when the subject is different."
"In case I need to reread a little above, it's still on the screen. I can take it at my own speed, and it's easier to keep my place."
If there is any conclusion for writers on the Web, it is that if the content is worth reading,
Web users will click or scroll to get it. But the majority will scan it and print it out if they want thorough readability.
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