Return-Path: <nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id eB8IAM900575; Fri, 8 Dec 2000 13:10:22 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 13:10:22 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <NDBBKNOLGLDNLBPDOLFCEENMCMAA.sandras@u.washington.edu> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Sandra Smith" <sandras@u.washington.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-health@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:2751] Readability in the (election) News X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Content-Type: multipart/mixed; Status: OR This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01C060FE.C239C720 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Health literacy advocates, Colorado needs you. It seems chad is not the only problem with election ballots. I did an interview this week with Rocky Mountain News in Denver. Reporter Burt Hubbard and others ran the readability tests in MS-Word (Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch Kincaid scales) on samples of text from a number of familiar documents (Gettysburg Address, Harry Potter, Constitution) and on the Colorado ballot measures, including one to legalize medical marijuana. Apparently readability, plain language and pretesting were not foremost in the minds of those composing the health-related initiative. It scores 9 on the Flesch Reading Ease Index - not 9th grade mind you, but 9 on a scale of 0 to 100. For reference, the lowest category on the scale is 0 to 29 - very difficult. Practically speaking, a score of 9 means hopelessly complex and unintelligble. The score is explained by the average sentence length - 290 words. Hubbard says the measure passed easily. This was trumped by another measure on the ballot re funding for education. It scored 0. Voters said yes. Good thing. The article will be in the paper and online Sun or Mon. http://www.rockymountainnews.com SS Sandra Smith, MPH, CHES Health Education Specialist University of Washington Center for Health Education & Research Clinical Instructor, Health Services Dept Editor, Beginnings: A Practical Guide through Pregnancy Editor, http://www.PrenatalEd.com Mailing Address: 2821 2nd Ave #1601 Seattle WA 98121 206-441-7046 sandras@u.washington.edu ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01C060FE.C239C720 Content-Type: application/ms-tnef; name="winmail.dat" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="winmail.dat" eJ8+IgYSAQaQCAAEAAAAAAABAAEAAQeQBgAIAAAA5AQAAAAAAADoAAEIgAcAGAAAAElQTS5NaWNy b3NvZnQgTWFpbC5Ob3RlADEIAQ2ABAACAAAAAgACAAEGgAMADgAAANAHDAAIAAoACAAAAAUAAgEB A5AGAIQJAAAiAAAACwACAAEAAAALACMAAAAAAAMAJgAAAAAACwApAAAAAAADADYAAAAAAB4AcAAB AAAAIwAAAFJlYWRhYmlsaXR5IGluIHRoZSAoZWxlY3Rpb24pIE5ld3MAAAIBcQABAAAAFgAAAAHA YUHOXUjTN1rM5xHUrewAUNrYt6kAAAIBHQwBAAAAHgAAAFNNVFA6U0FORFJBU0BVLldBU0hJTkdU T04uRURVAAAACwABDgAAAABAAAYOAECdzEFhwAECAQoOAQAAABgAAAAAAAAAa21rK1z70xGt6wBQ 2ti3qcKAAAALAB8OAQAAAAIBCRABAAAAkQUAAI0FAACuBwAATFpGdYPIwn0DAAoAcmNwZzEyNRYy APgLYG4OEDAzM08B9wKkA2MCAGNoCsBzoGV0MCBHCsBhBGA8bmQCgwBQBOUQyUx1QGNpZGEgSABw ZOp3BRB0C4BnAoMOUBBvEEJvb2sDgk9sZKEGAHR5bGUCgH0KgNkIyCA7CW8OIDgCgAqBknYIkHdr C4BkNAxgrmMAUAsDC7Q0E+BlB0BwdGggbBRQBJAA0HmAIGFkdm9jYRwQOHMsIAhQCQEcgG8gqm4J 4GQEIHkIYC4KomcKhAqBAZEgSQVAESBlvm0EIBDhFsAEAB2wbwVAqRvAZSACIGwcYHADYFsCYB/A IAPwG8FlFxBjMxRgAiAgYgdACQB0c/IuH2AgZBOwHHADoAuArxwRGdIgsSBRdwngayHE6QgAY2sc YE0IYAIwC3HXB7IEICYhRAnwdgSQIyD4UmVwCREEkBYQCHAFQPhIdWIisAsgI5EWwCCQ+yDQERAg EZADoCDCCXAcgP8BoAMQFFAcYBzhIwAmkgXgzC1XBbAWwChGFxAE8MclQSnxFHEgRWERICij/SvF SwuAHMAjcQTwB0AHkD4pIPEfkBGgC1AHkW9mvSqReAVAA1IccB2wdQbQfyexL2Ev0BGgKkEKwR2Q Y2cwYAnwKtEoRxEwFvBzxmIIcCyQQWRkCXAEENMdEBPwcnIcYFAgkBwR5x0SAIAUYHR1ImIukCiz 9ymEHTcitCAHgCzACHAc8t8twQpALGMCICDgdB2gFxDyZwdAaXog4AeAI2AuQaM24ArAaWp1AHBh IyD5HmpBcAqxMeEhISnpHRDvC1Mb4A8ROgBnLOQhUBEw/yqxLHIkwAlwIHMCEAlwBGC/KsAmkiDC MSAR0C9EaD9g/yDgBaAvAD9gLHIgwiDQG6L+LQlwC2AcECAxAwAUYBzQvmknACMhH4EFoQeROTV2 uyvPLNFJEdAvoDDgLSBz/jkbwQnAHIA/9B4SHRAyoP9GsTDgIoET0C4zL1IRUDhxtQ9AMCMgRgWx CXBmPpH9LdBlHRAgwgkAJMA/cRzCfmcFsBxgNYVI1CBRSWMyf0QwRnAnARxgI2ABIA3gdXsbsCMg UBwxFGAuQSEhc/ZwG5AaEWcdEEijPyEvUr9EMDbxBjFAsE+gRNFzISF/QQIXEEZAKLIl4CPSItBp 9mchgSMgVExzUIIgUS+g2wtTQqFiKoEg0WEnAT1S/xEgI+FKoTiRDyAbwUZwTYD9EVB3K3EjESg2 LuAygD/EfzcEIUAswBEgFsA3AQMQed86TFPQJJIswCCwcjBgT6B/VSMAcCjzWQc1hTaFPqFm7yXg LGM/ESIQZBOQQyECIPdDeBbASdFWIJApIi7gI3H2eQeQIyBHFjAWwCRxDyD/HltT0grATxFJAQPw ItAioP9M4SmECrBPoAXANUQb8DhBXlMl4CDwBcFfwmgCQHDQOi8vd2dALgNgJYFvBGAl5B3AJnAu QQEealPqUx5lYxIyMQYCMxAT0I5TMSAbwB0QTVBIHRG8SEVpphTiC/EbdkVfZr8GAE+gE6A40SrA HmRVAwDvJwEAkCpxL2FXLMBiQjhw7wuRG0FsBmyyQ1ZCBcBfEn1s/yYnQREgCsAQ4B5kQ/9lwTlj RgAqwFvgIlAFsDNh/xuUBmEZ0EqwBCAm0BKxHnOfbWAUUHViDIMD0DE4FhDnOLBoMRRxczoy4E7I EWCWdROwOFFoA2B1ZxvQ707QOLA6IC3QeXbsZtl6wXs6IAGQbG1gaJkL4x5zTbcLcGXBMtc6HmQZ YDJqcAoyKMFBJwAgIzE2vjAak2lxG5ACQEkBV3kgHDk4DiCBRQHQNi00gDQxLTcwNDYeZHMu4Gqy c0AeQFuRcBUuf19RcNhwxmogAtF+ZRdRAAGH0AAAAAsAAYAIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABGAAAAAAOF AAAAAAAAAwADgAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAAEIUAAAAAAAADAAeACCAGAAAAAADAAAAAAAAA RgAAAABShQAAfW4BAB4ACYAIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABGAAAAAFSFAAABAAAABAAAADkuMAALAA2A CCAGAAAAAADAAAAAAAAARgAAAACChQAAAQAAAAsAOoAIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABGAAAAAA6FAAAA AAAAAwA8gAggBgAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAEYAAAAAEYUAAAAAAAADAD2ACCAGAAAAAADAAAAAAAAARgAA AAAYhQAAAAAAAAMAWIAIIAYAAAAAAMAAAAAAAABGAAAAAAGFAAAAAAAACwB/gAggBgAAAAAAwAAA AAAAAEYAAAAABoUAAAAAAAACAfgPAQAAABAAAABrbWsrXPvTEa3rAFDa2LepAgH6DwEAAAAQAAAA a21rK1z70xGt6wBQ2ti3qQIB+w8BAAAAggAAAAAAAAA4obsQBeUQGqG7CAArKlbCAABQU1RQUlgu RExMAAAAAAAAAABOSVRB+b+4AQCqADfZbgAAAEM6XFdJTkRPV1NcTG9jYWwgU2V0dGluZ3NcQXBw bGljYXRpb24gRGF0YVxNaWNyb3NvZnRcT3V0bG9va1xvdXRsb29rLnBzdAAAAAMA/g8FAAAAAwAN NP03AAACAX8AAQAAADgAAAA8TkRCQktOT0xHTEROTEJQRE9MRkNFRU5NQ01BQS5zYW5kcmFzQHUu d2FzaGluZ3Rvbi5lZHU+AAMABhDA9404AwAHEPQEAAADABAQAAAAAAMAERAAAAAAHgAIEAEAAABl AAAASEVBTFRITElURVJBQ1lBRFZPQ0FURVMsQ09MT1JBRE9ORUVEU1lPVUlUU0VFTVNDSEFESVNO T1RUSEVPTkxZUFJPQkxFTVdJVEhFTEVDVElPTkJBTExPVFNJRElEQU5JTlRFUgAAAAAAnw== ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01C060FE.C239C720--
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