Evaluating the readability levels of medical infographic materials for public consumption

Abstract

Readability is an important element of any published material. In recent years, various health organisations have utilised infographics to communicate important medical information. Established guidelines for readability suggest levels should be targeted between a 4th and 6th grade education level (United States) in order to avoid disadvantaging individuals with lower literacy skills. The purpose of this case study was to evaluate the readability levels of several published materials from the field of athletic training and demonstrate a model for evaluating readability levels in other medical and health professions.

Keywords:

• Education
• health communications
• patient information
• visual sciences
• medical art and illustration
• graphic design

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.