Clear writing and testability

Gregg said on this afternoon's joint call with ATAG that "Write clearly"
isn't testable.  I beg to differ. Clarity isn't *machine-testable.(
However, it *is* possible to achieve a high degree of inter-rater
reliability for written work.  In the US, the Educational Testing
Service (ETS) trains teams of people to score high-stakes examinations
that can determine whether students are or are not admitted to
university.  These evaluators read and score student essays, and achieve
enough inter-rater reliability for their results to be accepted by many
coleges and universities.  Teachers using the Learning Record (a
portfolio-based learning assessment tool) achieve inter-rater
reliability ratings of 89% last time I heard the statistics.  
 
The key is in Gregg's phrase about raters "who know what they're talking
about."  I would argue that it's possible to train people to read Web
content and make informed judgments about its clarity.
 
John
 


"Good design is accessible design." 
Please note our new name and URL!
John Slatin, Ph.D.
Director, Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, f 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/
<http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/>