Skip to main content

Understanding the Readability Score

In the article editor you'll see a readability score. This is a measure of how complex your article is to understand. 1 is super easy to understand, whereas 14 is very difficult.

Taylor Sloane
Updated by Taylor Sloane

Head to any article in the editor and you'll see a Readability Score in the sidebar. This is a measure of how complex your article is to understand.

We use the Automated Readability Index to calculate these scores. Each article gets a score from 1 to 14. The score corresponds to an age group and grade level. Check out the table below for a full list.

You can hover over the readability score when you're editing an article. It'll show you the reading age and school grade in your editor.
Readability tooltip displaying a score of 7, sixth grade level, alongside word count and version controls.
Lower scores are easier to read. Depending on how technical your audience is, a good readability score to aim for would be 10, but general audiences may want to aim lower.

The easier your articles are to read the more useful they'll be. And when your customers can find what they need quickly, everyone wins 🎉 Want help improving your scores? Check out Understanding Improve with AI for automated suggestions, or read Writing Clear and Digestible Knowledge Base Articles for general tips.

Readability Score Reference Table

Score

Age

Grade Level

1

5-6

Kindergarten

2

6-7

First Grade

3

7-8

Second Grade

4

8-9

Third Grade

5

9-10

Fourth Grade

6

10-11

Fifth Grade

7

11-12

Sixth Grade

8

12-13

Seventh Grade

9

13-14

Eighth Grade

10

14-15

Ninth Grade

11

15-16

Tenth Grade

12

16-17

Eleventh Grade

13

17-18

Twelfth Grade

14

18-22

College

What did you think of this doc?

Switching the Editor Mode

Deleting an Article

Get in touch