Word Readability Research Articles

Typeface recognition and legibility metrics

In the digital age, people prefer digital content, but screen-related health concerns like eye strain and blue light emerge. Legibility gains importance in digital text, especially in fields like optometry and for those with low vision. Therefore, having good letter recognition ensures better readability of words and written language in general. This work focuses on defining three typeface legibility indices from the judgements of a group of 31 observers. Those indices are based on statistics, confusion matrices, and power indices from game theory. As far as we know, this is the first time that typeface legibility indices have been defined using game theory. These indices help us to globally assess how legible is a typeface. We apply them to three commonly used typefaces (Roboto, Helvetica and Georgia), and to a new one developed for the authors (Optotipica 5 v2022). This comparison helps us understand which typefaces are more legible according to the defined indices on digital screens. The major conclusions are: (1) The three indices are highly consistent pairwise; (2) Helvetica is the most legible typeface for uppercase letters, whilst Optotipica is the most legible for lowercase; (3) the two cases of Helvetica exhibit uniform high legibility metrics, ensuring optimal recognition regardless of letter case.

Assessing the Application of Large Language Models in Generating Dermatologic Patient Education Materials According to Reading Level: Qualitative Study.

Dermatologic patient education materials (PEMs) are often written above the national average seventh- to eighth-grade reading level. ChatGPT-3.5, GPT-4, DermGPT, and DocsGPT are large language models (LLMs) that are responsive to user prompts. Our project assesses their use in generating dermatologic PEMs at specified reading levels. This study aims to assess the ability of select LLMs to generate PEMs for common and rare dermatologic conditions at unspecified and specified reading levels. Further, the study aims to assess the preservation of meaning across such LLM-generated PEMs, as assessed by dermatology resident trainees. The Flesch-Kincaid reading level (FKRL) of current American Academy of Dermatology PEMs was evaluated for 4 common (atopic dermatitis, acne vulgaris, psoriasis, and herpes zoster) and 4 rare (epidermolysis bullosa, bullous pemphigoid, lamellar ichthyosis, and lichen planus) dermatologic conditions. We prompted ChatGPT-3.5, GPT-4, DermGPT, and DocsGPT to "Create a patient education handout about [condition] at a [FKRL]" to iteratively generate 10 PEMs per condition at unspecified fifth- and seventh-grade FKRLs, evaluated with Microsoft Word readability statistics. The preservation of meaning across LLMs was assessed by 2 dermatology resident trainees. The current American Academy of Dermatology PEMs had an average (SD) FKRL of 9.35 (1.26) and 9.50 (2.3) for common and rare diseases, respectively. For common diseases, the FKRLs of LLM-produced PEMs ranged between 9.8 and 11.21 (unspecified prompt), between 4.22 and 7.43 (fifth-grade prompt), and between 5.98 and 7.28 (seventh-grade prompt). For rare diseases, the FKRLs of LLM-produced PEMs ranged between 9.85 and 11.45 (unspecified prompt), between 4.22 and 7.43 (fifth-grade prompt), and between 5.98 and 7.28 (seventh-grade prompt). At the fifth-grade reading level, GPT-4 was better at producing PEMs for both common and rare conditions than ChatGPT-3.5 (P=.001 and P=.01, respectively), DermGPT (P<.001 and P=.03, respectively), and DocsGPT (P<.001 and P=.02, respectively). At the seventh-grade reading level, no significant difference was found between ChatGPT-3.5, GPT-4, DocsGPT, or DermGPT in producing PEMs for common conditions (all P>.05); however, for rare conditions, ChatGPT-3.5 and DocsGPT outperformed GPT-4 (P=.003 and P<.001, respectively). The preservation of meaning analysis revealed that for common conditions, DermGPT ranked the highest for overall ease of reading, patient understandability, and accuracy (14.75/15, 98%); for rare conditions, handouts generated by GPT-4 ranked the highest (14.5/15, 97%). GPT-4 appeared to outperform ChatGPT-3.5, DocsGPT, and DermGPT at the fifth-grade FKRL for both common and rare conditions, although both ChatGPT-3.5 and DocsGPT performed better than GPT-4 at the seventh-grade FKRL for rare conditions. LLM-produced PEMs may reliably meet seventh-grade FKRLs for select common and rare dermatologic conditions and are easy to read, understandable for patients, and mostly accurate. LLMs may play a role in enhancing health literacy and disseminating accessible, understandable PEMs in dermatology.

Translation Quality on Words Containing Spelling, Punctuation and Grammatical Error

This study aims to assess the translation quality in terms of accuracy, acceptability, and readability of words that contain spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors that represent the condition of Autism character in Flowers for Algernon novel by Daniel Keyes using an instrument from Nababan, Nuraeni, and Sumardiono (2012). This research uses qualitative descriptive method. Data collection is done through document analysis, questionnaire, and FGD. From 309 data found in the study, 303 data (98.05%) were accurately translated and 6 data (1.94%) were translated inaccurately. In terms of acceptability, 177 data (57.28%) were acceptable, 126 data (40.77%) were less acceptable and 6 data (1.94%) were unacceptable. While for readability aspect, 285 data (92,23%) were stated to have high readability, 18 data (5.82%) had medium readability and 6 data (1.94%) had low readability. The average score is 2.81. This score indicates the translation has a good quality of accuracy, acceptability, and readability.Keywords: Translation Quality, Spelling Error, Punctuation Error, Grammatical Error

Abstract Analysis and Revision Assignment Using MS Word Readability Statistics

In teaching technical writing for nearly 20 years, I have recognized the importance of including writing assignments focused on improving students' clarity and effectiveness at the sentence level. I present a writing assignment for STEM students ranging from freshman to graduate-level. Students first find a published abstract in their discipline and then use readability tools to analyze the abstract's style. They revise the abstract for better readability while maintaining professional tone. This assignment reinforces research skills, audience awareness, and reflection on sentence-level stylistic choices.

Content analysis of web-based norovirus education materials targeting consumers who handle food: An assessment of alignment and readability

Human noroviruses sicken 19–21 million people in the U.S. each year, suggesting the need for education. The World Wide Web is an accessible source of information about how to prevent a norovirus infection but the accuracy and readability of information targeting consumers is unknown. The aim of the study was to evaluate the alignment and readability of web-based norovirus education materials targeting consumers using CDC evidence-based guidelines and Microsoft Word readability formulas. The search yielded 60 artifacts. Most did not address duration of handwashing (83%), use of hand sanitizers (83%), type of drying devices (92%), or avoidance of bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods (97%). Less than half (n = 29) recommended minimizing contact with sick persons. Two-thirds of the artifacts (n = 40) also did not mention the recommended concentration of sodium hypochlorite (bleach) solution to be used to disinfect surfaces contaminated with noroviruses. The mean Flesch Reading Ease score was 47.75 (score of >70 is easy to read), and the mean Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level was 10.36 so documents were written at a 10th grade level. The alignment and readability of web-based educational materials about noroviruses must be improved as knowledge is a prerequisite to application of behaviors that can prevent one from becoming infected with noroviruses.

Preventing and controlling human noroviruses in South Carolina long-term care facilities: An analysis of institutional policies and procedures

Long-term care (LTC) facilities are the number one setting for human norovirus (HuNoV) outbreaks in the United States (60%). We aimed to determine alignment of policies and procedures in LTC facilities in South Carolina with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations and to determine readability based on Federal Plain Language Guidelines and Microsoft Word readability statistics. Most facilities (n = 21) had procedures for hand hygiene, but recommendations for handwashing events and duration varied greatly. Less than half (n = 11) had separate procedures devoted to HuNoV outbreak control. Fifteen required disinfection of bodily fluids. Seven had procedures for exclusion of sick staff during an outbreak. Both hand hygiene and bodily fluid cleanup procedures had low mean scores for readability. Mean Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level for both procedures were in the range of difficult to understand. Most LTC policies and procedures were not consistent with CDC recommendations for HuNoV. Moreover, readability of all procedures is needed so LTC workers can easily understand and implement prevention and control procedures.

다중이용업소 피난안내도 작성 가이드라인 수립을 위한 기초연구

This study examined the domestic and foreign laws and guidelines about the evacuation map, and investigated and analyzed the present state of the domestic evacuation map. Based on this analysis, this study considered problems of the evacuation map and suggested the necessity of standardizing the evacuation map. The study results are as follows. First, the positions of the emergency exits and evacuation routes are indicated, and the positions of fire-fighting facilities and operations methods and evacuation and coping methods are provided in the domestic law about the evacuation map, but there was a lack of guideline needed for drawing up the evacuation map. Second, when investigating the cases of the U.S.A. where makes it compulsory to install the fire evacuation map and suggests guidelines written by each state, there were differences in the written items of the evacuation map, but commonly, more detailed contents are provided than in korea. Besides, they provided the template or example map to unify the style of the evacuation map of each state. Third, domestic evacuations map were drawn up by specialized companies and individual businesses, or by business owners. Fourth, the present position, floors, explanatory notes, the name of business, number for notification and title(evacuation map) are written except the items provided in the domestic law, and each case has a different way of indicating or they are omitted. In addition, there were various problems including different ways of writing in the map. Finally, when analyzing the evacuation map, based on sign's components, there was no fixed form of layout, and readability of words and visibility of colors were low, and signs and pictograms used in each case lacked unity, which means there were a lot of problems that might cause confusion in the emergency situation.

Supporting multifaceted viewing of word clouds with focus+context display

Word clouds provide an effective way to visually summarize important keywords from a large collection of text. Despite their increasing popularity, relatively less attention has been paid on developing interactive techniques for flexible word cloud navigation and manipulation. In this article, we present a focus + context display technique to support multifaceted viewing of word clouds. In our algorithm, the sizes of words in a word cloud are first changed to reflect the current importance metric selected by the user and then scaled to balance space utilization and word readability. To remove word overlaps caused by changes of sizes while maintaining the positional dependency modeled by a directed acyclic graph, we propose a force-directed model that also maximizes the utilization of display space. We demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of our techniques through case studies using a real-world dataset and evaluate the performance of the constraint-based overlap removal method in achieving stable layouts during importance transformation.

Legibilidad de las páginas web sobre salud dirigidas a pacientes y lectores de la población general

Internet is becoming now becoming one of the major healthcare information sources. Aside from this popularity, new questions are now coming to bear, such as the quality of the information provided or its ability to convey knowledge. The purpose of this study is that of gauging the degree of readability of this information for patients which is accessible on the Internet in Spanish. A total of 112 webpages dealing with seven (7) chronic diseases were selected. Based on the Microsoft Word readability statistics, we recovered the data of the number of syllables and sentences in the first 100 words in each document. For calculating readability, we used the adaptation of the Flesch degree formula for the Spanish language devised by Fernández Huerta. The mean readability of the documents is 65.16 (+/- 14.75), thus corresponding to a standard level, in other words, a thirteen-year-old's reading level. Although the readability scores found for the documents analyzed are good, they are not optimum for the users searching for health-related information on the Internet. It is essential that these informative documents be adapted to these users' readability level.. The need for studies evaluating the consequences entailed in the low degree of health-related literacy entails the incorrect use of medications, mistakes in preparing for diagnostic tests and an increase in the costs of healthcare services.

Bee but not be: Oral reading of single words in aphasia and alexia

Three studies are reported of the oral reading ability of language-impaired patients. Part of speech and picturability are shown to contribute to a word's readability. In addition, words whose referents can be easily manipulated ( operative nouns) prove easier to read than matched words whose referents are relatively figurative. Comparisons of reading and naming ability were drawn between aphasic patients and patients clinically diagnosed as alexic. These comparisons suggest that for most aphasics reading and naming are mediated by separated mechanisms, with the ability to read being relatively spared; that alexics without agraphia achieve most success with short words, irrespective of part of speech; that alexics with agraphia achieve most success with picturable nouns, even when these contain more letters. In alexia with agraphia, reading and naming occur at a comparable level and may be mediated by identical or similar cognitive mechanisms.

Effects of reducing the readability of the words in the Stroop Color-Word Test

Decreasing the readability of words, by partially obscuring them with a mask, increased the susceptibility of reading and decreased the susceptibility of color naming to interference in the Stroop color-word conflict situation. The conflict interfered with both reading and color-naming performance, with and without the mask, but the degree of interference was inversely related to the relative strength of the response.