---
title: "Automated Readability Index"
id: "automated-readability-index"
project: "ClickHelp User Manual"
url: "https://docs.clickhelp.com/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/automated-readability-index"
updated: 2026-11-05T12:34:03Z
---

# Automated Readability Index

Documentation index for AI tools: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)
 
**The Automated Readability Index** is a metric used to indicate how difficult a text is to read based on the number of letters per word and words per sentence. Values correspond to the number of years of education a reader requires to understand a text. For example, six corresponds to 11-12-year-old readers, while 12 corresponds to 17-18-year-olds. So, values should be interpreted as follows:

| Value | School level | Student age range | Notes |
| :--- | :--- | --- | --- |
| 0-1 | Pre-kindergarten - 1st grade | 3-7 | Basic level for those who just learn to read books. |
| 1-5 | 1st grade - 5th grade | 7-11 | Very easy to read. |
| 5-8 | 5th grade - 8th grade | 11-14 | A text is considered ideal for average readers. |
| 8-11 | 8th grade - 11th grade | 14-17 | Fairly difficult to read. |
| 11 and above | 11th grade - college | 17 and above | Too hard to read for the majority of readers. |

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Since it's based on the [American Education system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States#Educational_stages), school levels and age ranges may be inaccurate for non-English languages. However, it's still possible to compare the relative readability of two topics written in the same language.

| If a metric value is zero, make sure that the project language matches the content language and check the punctuation. |
| --- |

Check out the other readeability metrics:

* [Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/flesch-kincaid-grade-level)
* [Coleman-Liau Index](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/coleman-liau-index)
* [Flesch Reading Ease](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/flesch-reading-ease)
* [Gunning Fog Index](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/gunning-fog-index)
* [Linsear Write](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/linsear-write)
* [SMOG Index](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/smog-index)
* [FORCAST Grade](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/forcast-grade)
* [New Dale-Chall Score](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/new-dale-chall-score)
* [Average Grade](/articles/clickhelp-user-manual/average-grade)