Audience before simplicity
A specialist document can remain technical. The question is whether its language, structure and assumptions fit the people who need it.
Clarity is more than a readability formula.
PlainSight combines deterministic measures with a structured, audience-centred assessment. AI applies the framework to your content. It does not invent the framework.
Measures without false precision
Stable calculations support the assessment, while human-like judgement is used only where context matters.
Meaning before score
Protected wording and a separate meaning check take priority over achieving a higher score.
The Clarity Score
Five visible dimensions, one useful view
The score is a directional assessment out of 100. It is designed to help teams find and prioritise barriers, not certify content or claim scientific certainty.
- Audience fitDoes the content match the reader's knowledge, context and needs?27%
- UnderstandingAre sentences, terminology and relationships easy to follow?25%
- ActionabilityCan readers identify what they need to do, when and how?20%
- StructureCan readers find key information and understand its sequence?18%
- Reading easeHow demanding are the sentence and word patterns?10%
Supporting measure
Flesch Reading Ease
PlainSight calculates Flesch Reading Ease directly. It uses the average number of words per sentence and syllables per word:
206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words)A higher score generally means the text is easier to decode and requires less reading effort. Flesch cannot tell whether information is accurate, well ordered, actionable or appropriate for a particular audience, so it contributes only 10% of the Clarity Score.
90–100Very low reading effort70–89Low reading effort50–69Moderate reading effort30–49High reading effort0–29Very high reading effort required
Rewrite safeguards
Analyse, rewrite, verify
Every rewrite is assessed again before it is presented. PlainSight compares meaning-sensitive details and preserves the original when it cannot verify an improvement.
- 1Analyse the originalDeterministic measures and structured judgement identify barriers.
- 2Protect sensitive wordingPotentially significant passages are locked by default.
- 3Rewrite selectivelyOnly changes with a meaningful clarity benefit are recommended.
- 4Analyse the rewriteThe same framework checks whether clarity actually improved.
- 5Compare meaningNumbers, conditions, obligations and certainty are checked separately.
Sources that inform the framework
PlainSight uses public, freely available guidance. It does not reproduce restricted standards, use ISO publications, or claim ISO compliance, certification or alignment.