What the scores mean
Reading ease runs from about 0 to 120: the higher it is, the easier the text. Short words and short sentences push it up. The grade level turns the same counts into a US school grade, so 8 means an eighth grader can follow it. Wikipedia's worked examples come out the same here: "The cat sat on the mat." scores 116, and "The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of a mammal and reptilian creature." scores 37.5 with grade 11.3.
| Reading ease | Level |
|---|---|
| 90 and up | Very easy |
| 80 to 90 | Easy |
| 70 to 80 | Fairly easy |
| 60 to 70 | Plain English |
| 50 to 60 | Fairly difficult |
| 30 to 50 | Difficult |
| 10 to 30 | Very difficult |
| below 10 | Extremely difficult |
Making a post easier to read
Start with the long sentences the checker lists: any sentence of more than 25 words is hard to take in on a small screen, so split it in two or three. Then swap long words for short ones where the meaning stays the same, such as use for utilize. Passive phrases hide who does what, so try the active form and keep whichever reads better.
A score is a guide, not a rule. A post for developers can use the words they use, and a single line like "Go." scores high without saying much. When the post reads well, paste it into PostBoost to schedule it to all your networks at once.