Short answer: The Flesch reading ease test rates text on a 100-point scale, and the higher the score, the easier the text is to understand. Microsoft suggests 60 to 70 for most standard files. To raise your score, write shorter sentences with shorter, more common words.
What the Flesch reading ease score measures
The test looks at how long your sentences are and how many syllables your words have. Microsoft gives the formula as 206.835 minus 1.015 times the average sentence length, minus 84.6 times the average syllables per word.
Word shows it in its document stats, together with the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, which turns the same two averages into a U.S. school grade.
| Measure | What it gives you | What to aim for |
|---|---|---|
| Flesch reading ease | A score on a 100-point scale, where higher is easier | 60 to 70 for most standard files |
| Flesch-Kincaid grade level | A U.S. school grade: 8.0 means an eighth grader can follow the text | Around 7.0 to 8.0 for most documents |
| W3C reading level | Whether text needs more than nine years of school | A simpler version or supplemental content when it does |
Based on Microsoft Support and W3C, read November 4, 2026.
How to read your score
Microsoft suggests a score between 60 and 70 for most standard files, and a higher score means easier text. For the grade level, it recommends around 7.0 to 8.0.
W3C uses a similar line in its accessibility guidelines. Under success criterion 3.1.5, at Level AAA, text that needs more than lower secondary education should come with supplemental content or a simpler version. In W3C’s words, that means more than nine years of school.
W3C also notes that no text can be easy for everyone. Reading level is its way to make clear writing testable.
How to make your text easier to read
W3C’s technique for easier text lists what lowers the reading level. Give each paragraph one topic, and use the simplest sentence form, such as subject, verb and object.
Keep sentences no longer than the typical length for secondary education, which in English is 25 words, and divide longer ones in two. Use no more than two conjunctions in a sentence.
Replace jargon and long or unfamiliar words with shorter, more common ones, and remove words that don’t change the meaning. Turn a long series separated by commas into a bulleted or numbered list. In English, use the active voice unless you have a reason for the passive, and keep names and labels the same throughout.
Our website copy guide covers what to say on each page, and our accessibility checker guide covers how to test the rest of your site.
How to check your score in Word
In Word for Microsoft 365, select the Home tab, choose Editor and then Document stats. Word opens a window with the statistics and reading level of your document. Microsoft says the feature is only available for Microsoft 365 customers on the Current Channel.
The language of the text changes what you see. When a document mixes languages, Word shows readability for the last language it checked. For some European languages within an English document, it shows only counts and averages, not readability.
W3C asks for a result for each language that makes up at least 5% of the content in full sentences. It then judges the page by the language with the worst result.
How to raise your score, page by page
- Copy the text of one page into Word, without the menu and the footer.
- Open Document stats and note the reading ease and the grade level.
- Find the sentences longer than 25 words and divide them.
- Swap jargon and long words for common ones.
- Turn long series separated by commas into lists.
- Rewrite passive sentences in the active voice.
- Check the stats again and aim for at least 60, with a grade around 7 to 8.
W3C also lists a spoken version of the text among the ways to meet its reading level criterion. Our text to speech guide covers adding one to your pages.
How readable our own guides are
At 4:03 PM on November 4, 2026, we ran Microsoft’s two formulas over the body text of the 177 English guides published then. The median guide scores 71.7 for reading ease, and 173 of the 177 score 60 or more. The median grade level is 6.9.
Our median sentence runs 14 words, and 94.8% of our English sentences stay at 25 words or fewer. The 177 Spanish guides have a median sentence of 15 words.
We counted syllables with a simple rule based on vowel groups, so Word’s own count can move a score by a few points. We left out tables, figures and source lines.
Before you publish a page
- Each paragraph covers one topic.
- Sentences stay at 25 words or fewer.
- Common words replace jargon.
- Long series are lists.
- Most sentences use the active voice.
- The reading ease is at least 60, with a grade around 7 to 8.
RememberWrite short sentences with common words first, then let the score confirm it. The score checks your writing; it doesn’t write it for you.
Clear, readable pages are part of our web design service.
Quick answers about readability scores
What is a good Flesch reading ease score?
Microsoft says that for most standard files you want a score between 60 and 70. The scale runs to 100, and the higher the score, the easier the text is to understand. Short sentences and short, common words raise it.
What is the difference between reading ease and the Flesch-Kincaid grade level?
Both use the same inputs: words per sentence and syllables per word. Reading ease gives a score where higher means easier. The grade level gives a U.S. school grade, and Microsoft recommends around 7.0 to 8.0 for most documents.
How long should a sentence be?
W3C’s technique for easier text asks for sentences no longer than the typical length for secondary education, which in English is 25 words. It suggests dividing longer sentences in two and using no more than two conjunctions in a sentence.
How do I check readability in Word?
In Word for Microsoft 365, select the Home tab, choose Editor and then Document stats. Microsoft says the feature is only for Microsoft 365 customers on the Current Channel. The window shows both Flesch scores.
What if my website is in two languages?
W3C says to calculate readability for each language that makes up at least 5% of the content in full sentences. It then judges the page by the language with the worst result. Word shows readability for the last language it checked.
Sources
Read on November 4, 2026. Microsoft Support: Get your document’s readability and level statistics in Microsoft Word. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Understanding SC 3.1.5 Reading Level (Level AAA) and Technique G153: Making the text easier to read. Our case: the 177 guides of this site in each language, read on November 4, 2026.