FRY Readability Graph and Formula
The Fry readability score is a visual assessment of a text's grade level. For a sample of text we plot the number of syllables per 100 words on the horizontal axis (x-axis), and the number of sentences per 100 words on the vertical axis (y-axis). The region this point falls is an estimation of grade level.
The traditional method, developed by Edward Fry (A Readability Formula That Saves Time, Journal of Reading (1968)), is to take three 100-word samples, each chosen from a random starting point and compute the above point. Taking the average of these three points and plotting them on the Fry graph (seen below) gives us an estimation of the grade level of a text.
Since computers weren't widely available to the public when Fry developed the above formula, his method was fast, accessible, and could be calculated quickly on paper so that educators or anyone else could objectively estimate the reading level of a text. Modern computing, however, allows us to not only compute the above statistic for several 100-word samples, but to perform the above task for the entire text almost instantaneously. This website calculates the Fry Readability Score for the entire text.
The traditional method, developed by Edward Fry (A Readability Formula That Saves Time, Journal of Reading (1968)), is to take three 100-word samples, each chosen from a random starting point and compute the above point. Taking the average of these three points and plotting them on the Fry graph (seen below) gives us an estimation of the grade level of a text.
Since computers weren't widely available to the public when Fry developed the above formula, his method was fast, accessible, and could be calculated quickly on paper so that educators or anyone else could objectively estimate the reading level of a text. Modern computing, however, allows us to not only compute the above statistic for several 100-word samples, but to perform the above task for the entire text almost instantaneously. This website calculates the Fry Readability Score for the entire text.
