Showing Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV research university sites. All education sites
R1 and R2 universities in the Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, public and private together. Metro boundaries follow the Census definition, so a page can cross state lines.
F 40
Average readability score of 5 fully scanned Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV research university sites
4th
of 8 metro areas, ranked by average readability score
5 of 7
Washington, dc-va-md-wv research university sites fully scanned. We couldn't fully scan 2, so they're listed without grades
F 56
Average readability score of all 2,687 fully scanned education sites
How Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV readability scores are distributed
Smoothed distribution of the 5 fully scanned Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV research university sites, score 0 to 100. Height shows how many sites score near each value.
Distribution of 5 scores. The data table lists counts by score range.
- Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV average
- All education average
View the data table
| Score range | Sites |
|---|---|
| 0 to 9 | 3 |
| 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 | 2 |
Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV research universities by readability grade, compared with all education sites
Share of fully scanned sites in each grade band. Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV research universities: 5 sites. All education: 2687 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV | 40% (2) | 0% (0) | 60% (3) |
| All education sites | 53% (1,425) | 0% (0) | 41% (1,110) |
Top 3 Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV research university sites by readability score
#1 in Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV · U.S. education rank 1
Georgetown University
A 100 readability
- Accessibility B
- Botability B
- Security C
- Usability C
- Readability A
#1 in Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV · U.S. education rank 1
The Catholic University of America
A 100 readability
- Accessibility A
- Botability A
- Security B
- Usability F
- Readability A
#2 in Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV · U.S. education rank 66
George Washington University
F 0 readability
- Accessibility A
- Botability C
- Security B
- Usability A
- Readability F
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.
Every education site with one problem
- Education websites that are hard to read: 1,110 of 2,535 fully scanned education sites (44%), with every site listed.
Research universities in Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV by readability score
| Rank | Site | Checks passed | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
georgetown.edu
Georgetown University U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
catholic.edu
The Catholic University of America U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 2 |
gwu.edu
George Washington University U.S. rank 66 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
howard.edu
Howard University U.S. rank 96 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
umd.edu
University of Maryland-College Park U.S. rank 40 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
|
american.edu
American University |
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 | - | |
|
gmu.edu
George Mason University |
Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't fully scan your site because it responded without any page content. Status 995 | - |
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 readability tests
- U.S. Federal Website Standards
- Plain Writing Act of 2010
Standards
Grades/scores
ScanGov
About this ranking
About this data
ScanGov scans the homepage of each college and university site on our higher education list. Scores come from the checks in the ScanGov standards. Sites were scanned between 10/28/2026 and 11/8/2026. Each site's report shows its own scan date. A site counts as fully scanned when its homepage loaded and sent us its page content. Averages, grade shares, failure rates, and ranks use fully scanned sites only. We could not fully scan 2 sites. They did not respond, blocked the scanner, or sent no page content. They appear in the table without grades, with their scan status, and are left out of every figure. Grades follow the ScanGov grade scale. Rank follows the ScanGov ranking method. The full dataset, with every county's raw results, is in the ScanGov data repository.