confused with legibility, which concerns typeface and layout.
George Klare (1963) defines readability as “the ease of understanding or
comprehension due to the style of writing.” This definition focuses on writing
style as separate from issues such as content, coherence, and organization. In a
similar manner, Gretchen Hargis and her colleagues at IBM (1998) state that
readability, the “ease of reading words and sentences,” is an attribute of clarity.
The creator of the SMOG readability formula G. Harry McLaughlin (1969)
defines readability as: “the degree to which a given class of people find certain
reading matter compelling and comprehensible.” This definition stresses the
interaction between the text and a class of readers of known characteristics such
as reading skill, prior knowledge, and motivation.
Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall’s (1949) definition may be the most
comprehensive: “The sum total (including all the interactions) of all those
elements within a given piece of printed material that affect the success a group
of readers have with it. The success is the extent to which they understand it,
read it at an optimal speed, and find it interesting