Empirical examination of comprehensibility

First and foremost, the production of accessible texts is concerned with the optimisation of comprehensibility for its readers. For example, there are rules for Easy Language (see Maaß 2015, Bredel/Maaß 2016) that presumably improve the comprehensibility of texts. The effect of these rules on the complexity of texts can be measured using product-based methods. Nonetheless, it is not clear yet whether reduced complexity actually has a positive effect on processing effort during text reception. This can also be investigated empirically but requires process-based methods that take a closer look at text reception. In summary, empirical research on text production and text reception is needed to arrive at conclusions about the efficiency of rules that are designed to improve comprehensibility in accessible communication.