Showing Massachusetts county sites. All U.S. county sites
C 71
Average readability score of 7 fully scanned Massachusetts county sites
7th
of 48 states, ranked by average readability score
7 of 8
Sites fully scanned. We couldn't fully scan 1, so they're listed without grades
D 61
U.S. county average readability score, 2421 fully scanned sites
Massachusetts's state site, mass.gov, could not be fully scanned. State rankings.
How Massachusetts county readability scores are distributed
Smoothed distribution of the 7 fully scanned Massachusetts county sites, score 0 to 100. Height shows how many sites score near each value.
Distribution of 7 scores. The data table lists counts by score range.
- Massachusetts average
- U.S. county average
View the data table
| Score range | Sites |
|---|---|
| 0 to 9 | 2 |
| 10 to 19 | 0 |
| 20 to 29 | 0 |
| 30 to 39 | 0 |
| 40 to 49 | 0 |
| 50 to 59 | 0 |
| 60 to 69 | 0 |
| 70 to 79 | 0 |
| 80 to 89 | 0 |
| 90 to 100 | 5 |
Massachusetts counties by readability grade
Each county with a site on our list is colored by that site's grade. Select a county to open its report. The table lists every site.
- A (90 to 100)
- B to C (70 to 89)
- D to F (below 70)
- Not fully scanned
- No site on our list
Massachusetts counties by readability grade, compared with all U.S. counties
Share of fully scanned sites in each grade band. Massachusetts: 7 sites. U.S.: 2421 sites.
- A (90 to 100)
- B to C (70 to 89)
- D to F (below 70)
View the data table
| Group | A (90 to 100) | B to C (70 to 89) | D to F (below 70) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 71% (5) | 0% (0) | 29% (2) |
| All U.S. counties | 58% (1,411) | 0% (0) | 37% (899) |
Top 3 Massachusetts county sites by readability score
#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. rank 1
Barnstable County, MA
A 100 readability
- Accessibility A
- Botability B
- Security A
- Usability D
- Readability A
#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. rank 1
Dukes County, MA
A 100 readability
- Accessibility B
- Botability C
- Security B
- Usability F
- Readability A
#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. rank 1
Nantucket, MA
A 100 readability
- Accessibility A
- Botability B
- Security B
- Usability F
- Readability A
What each check means
- Reading level. Page text reads at or below a 7th grade level so most users can understand it. Users struggle to understand your content.
All Massachusetts county sites by readability score
| Rank | Site | Checks passed | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
capecod.gov
Barnstable County, MA U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
dukescounty.gov
Dukes County, MA U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
nantucket-ma.gov
Nantucket, MA U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
norfolkcounty.org
Norfolk County, MA U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
plymouthcountyma.gov
Plymouth County, MA U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 2 |
countyofbristol.net
Bristol County, MA U.S. rank 161 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
essexma.org
Essex County, MA U.S. rank 129 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
|
frcog.org
Franklin County, MA |
Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't scan your site because it showed our bot a captcha or browser check instead of the page. Status 996 | - |
About readability
Write content at a reading level most users can understand.
Why it's important
Plain language helps people understand services and procedures the first time, reducing calls, errors and office visits.
Risks
- Users cannot understand your content.
Guidance
What we use to grade readability:
- 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA)
- Automated Readability Index (ARI)
- Flesch-Kincaid (FK)
- U.S. Federal Website Standards
- Plain Writing Act of 2010
Standards
Grades/scores
ScanGov
About this data
ScanGov scans the homepage of each county government site on our county list in Massachusetts. Scores come from the checks listed on standards.scangov.org. Sites were scanned between 9/27/2026 and 9/28/2026; each site's report shows its own scan date. A site counts as fully scanned when its homepage returned successfully and sent the scanner its page content. Averages, grade shares, failure rates, and ranks use fully scanned sites only. We weren't able to fully scan 1 sites because they did not respond, blocked the scanner, or returned no page content. They appear in the table without grades, each with its scan status, and are left out of every figure. Grades follow the ScanGov grade scale, and rank follows the ScanGov ranking method. The full dataset, including every county's raw results, is published in the ScanGov data repository.