Easy Read Access Key

The Easy Read Access Key is for sites using the clearest and simplest language possible for their content. The site will have received a Flesh-Kincaid score of between eight to ten from the spider. The manual check will take into account the target audience and the subject matter.

Designing for Simplicity

The average adult reads to GCSE level. According to usability guru Jakob Nielsen, about 30 per cent of internet users have low-literacy which means they need the reading age of a website to be geared for someone around 13 or 14 years old. For very important text such as terms and conditions or information about an insurance policy or health advice then the language needs to be geared for age 11 or 12. By keeping the text of a page as simple as possible it also means younger users and people for whom English is a second language can use your site more easily. Users will look elsewhere if they find the text on your website too difficult.

Another group to take into account are people with cognitive disabilities or who process information differently. The British Dyslexia Association estimates four per cent of the population is severely dyslexic while another six per cent experiences some symptoms. Along with those users who have dyslexia elderly users with dementia may visit your site, someone who has suffered a head injury and has problems with their short-term memory or someone who was born with Down Syndrome. While many of these users can certainly understand complex or technical subjects they may have different thought processes and they will benefit from simple language, short sentences and short paragraphs plus useful visuals or graphic instructions.

Most users prefer pages with text broken up by visuals or displayed in bulleted lists with distinct sections. In these cases they can scan the text to find the most useful information for their purposes. Using visual design to create larger headers - including graphs, charts and tables helping illustrate points - and using short lists that are easy to skim will help users stay focused on your site and not get frustrated or bored. Using a consistent design scheme throughout can help people to remember where they are and how to get around your site more efficiently.

Easy Read Checkpoints