How readable is your site?

Google has a new readability feature, so why not check a few local sites?

Here are some, in decreasing order of ‘Basic’ readabilty.

Proving something about left wing academics, tough I am not sure what. Overall very consistent in readability – not too simple, not too hard.

Complex matters, again presented consistently.

Seems right – Kiwiblog writes about complicated matters, and so the most basic language won’t work a lot of the time. However the lack of advanced language means the site is very readable. Well done.

Pretty good overall result – the basics are easy to read, but the complex is there as well. Appeals to a wide audience, or off-putting for the mainstream?

Hard to differentiate here, as always. Our mainstream media are more readable than the Economist and WSJ (2% and 8% basic respectively), along with the NYTimes (9%). However while MSNBC (44%) and USA Today (31%) are higher, it’s somehow disturbing that Fox News has about the same readability level (23%).

Entertainingly these two Aussie Fairfax Media papers have more difference between them than NZHerald and Stuff do in NZ.

News sites that focus on the new news, and not features – so you’d expect the easier readability.

Do Trade Me sellers define the best mix of language that sells? A strange coincidence that Rowan’s blog and this blog are about the same as Trade Me in readability.