The readability of official public health information onCOVID-19

The information needs of people with lower health literacy or from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have received limited attention during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In one study, the complexity of most government-produced COVID-19 information in
Australia and overseas exceeded the recommended grade 8 reading level, making it too difficult for general audiences, let alone people with lower health literacy. We therefore compared the complexity (readability, understandability, actionability) of Australian and overseas COVID-19 vaccination information with that of other COVID-19-related information (physical distancing, mask wearing), including “easy read” resources developed in Australia and New Zealand.

During March and April 2021, we selected public sources of information on vaccination, physical distancing, and face masks on government websites in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and by three overseas public health agencies: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the World Health Organization (WHO). We also searched each site for resource labelled “easy read”. Readability was assessed with the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) index, which estimates the grade reading level (range, grade 5‒18); grade 8 is recommended for general audiences.