How is the plain-language score calculated?

The score starts at 100 and deducts points for the share of sentences over 25 words, the density of passive-voice constructions, the number of nominalised verbs, and each distinct jargon phrase. Cleaner copy keeps more of the 100.

What is the Flesch Reading Ease score?

It is a standard readability formula: 206.835 minus 1.015 times average words per sentence minus 84.6 times average syllables per word. Higher is easier — 70+ is plain, 50–70 is fairly readable, and below 50 is formal or hard.

How does it detect passive voice?

It looks for a form of the verb to be (is, are, was, were, be, been, being) followed within two words by a past participle — a word ending in -ed or a common irregular form like made or done. This catches most passives, though heuristics can miss some.

What is a nominalisation?

A nominalisation is a verb or adjective turned into a noun, like decision (decide), implementation (implement), or compliance (comply). They make sentences abstract and wordy. The tool flags words ending in -tion, -ment, -ance, -ence, -ity, and -ness.

Is my text sent to a server?

No. All parsing, scoring, and pattern matching happen locally in your browser. Your draft is never uploaded or stored, which is why it is safe for sensitive government, legal, and healthcare copy.

Plain Language Scorer

Plain language standards — like the US Plain Writing Act, the UK GOV.UK style guide, and EU clear-communication rules — require public-facing copy to be readable by an ordinary person on the first pass. This scorer flags the four habits that most often break that promise: overlong sentences, passive voice, hidden verbs, and bureaucratic jargon. It gives you a numeric score plus a heatmap so you know exactly what to rewrite.

How it works

The analysis is a set of fast, transparent heuristics that all run on your device:

Sentence length — text is split on sentence-ending punctuation and any sentence over 25 words is flagged. Long sentences are the single biggest driver of low readability.
Passive voice — a form of to be followed within two words by a past participle is counted as passive. Active voice (the team decided) is clearer than passive (a decision was made by the team).
Nominalisations — words ending in -tion, -ment, -ance, -ence, -ity, or -ness are counted as hidden verbs you could turn back into actions.
Jargon — a built-in list of bureaucratic words and phrases (utilise, pursuant, in order to, prior to, and more) is matched and counted.
Flesch Reading Ease — the classic formula gives an overall readability band.

Tips and notes

Aim for an average sentence length under 20 words and a Flesch score above 60 for general public copy.
Passive voice is not always wrong — it is appropriate when the actor is unknown or irrelevant. Treat the flags as prompts, not commands.
Replacing one nominalisation often shortens a sentence twice over: make a decision about becomes decide.
Because the checks are heuristic, expect a few false positives (a legitimate -ed adjective read as passive, for example). Use your judgement on each flag — the score is a guide, not a grade.