Usability of a Web Site is strongly related to how a viewer can skim over the language and continue in the flow of a site for their particular interests.

Upshot:

• Usability is inversely related to Readability

The easier a site is to read, for instance a number of short words in sentences, the higher it’s readability.  The Fog Index is one antiquated way to calculate a sites readability by giving a lower number for higher or easier readability, similar to grade school reading levels.

Contrary to traditional writing philosophies, the easier a document is to read the less useful it is, at least as it relates to web pages.  Sentence fragments and robust vocabulary help viewers move around a web page faster.  It seems that our culture has changed with the dawn of the information age, moving from a formal structure to triggers that flash ideas. 

As was concluded in Dr. Edward P. Bailey’s Discussion Board, one must give a short and concise delivery of a point.  Very few circumstances warrant a ‘novel’ style of writing on a web site. 

According to Susan Solomon, executive director in marketing for several universities and hospitals, writers for sites should keep the following three items in mind to ensure readability:

1.  State Your Purpose.  Have a very clear statement in mind when communicating objectives of the web site.  

2.  Establish a Personality.  Formal presentation is always very professional, but try not to be boring and without style.  Web sites are new media forms that allow looser styles of writing where it might be easy to incorporate fun themes.  

3.  Be Clever.  Instead of using possibly offensive material and bad puns, stretch your imagination to present a touch of irony to appeal to the readers.  

Now lets move on to II. Layout.   

Fog Index Calculation:

1. Sample page w/at least 100 words
2. # of words
3. # of sentences
4. # of big words, w/3 or more syllables
5. Divide # of sentences into # of words, step 3 into step 2
6. Divide # of words into # of big words, step 2 into step 4
7. Add step 5 and step 6
8. Multiply by 0.4 for Fog Index.

Fog Index Calculation:

1. This Page
2. 286 words
3. 9 sentences
4. 29 big words
5. 31.78 = #2 / #3
6. .10 = #4 / #2
7. 31.88 = #5 + #6
8. 12.75 = #7 x 0.4

I purposefully designed this page to have a relatively high Fog Index to test the theory of low readability being more useful.  Let me know what you think, thanks.  

Back to Top or move on to II. Layout.