Predicting readability of data processing written materials
Ronald A. Guillemette · ACM SIGMIS Database the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems · 1987
Poorly written documentation adversely affects the acquisition, development, use, maintenance, management and control of application software. Readability formulas, comprised of certain linguistic variables, provide rough estimates of the potential difficulty of reading material. This paper illustrates the application of well-known readability formulas in a readability assessment of the 1985 ANSI COBOL Standard. The paper summarizes certain limitations of readability formulas and concludes with suggestions concerning the use of readability formulas in the evaluation of computer-related material.