Showing Massachusetts research university sites. All education sites
R1 and R2 universities in Massachusetts, public and private together.
F 45
Average readability score of 12 fully scanned Massachusetts research university sites
9th
of 17 states, ranked by average readability score
12 of 12
Massachusetts research university sites fully scanned
F 56
Average readability score of all 2,687 fully scanned education sites
How Massachusetts readability scores are distributed
Smoothed distribution of the 12 fully scanned Massachusetts research university sites, score 0 to 100. Height shows how many sites score near each value.
Distribution of 11 scores. The data table lists counts by score range.
- Massachusetts average
- All education average
View the data table
| Score range | Sites |
|---|---|
| 0 to 9 | 6 |
| 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 research universities by readability grade, compared with all education sites
Share of fully scanned sites in each grade band. Massachusetts research universities: 12 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 42% (5) | 0% (0) | 50% (6) |
| All education sites | 53% (1,425) | 0% (0) | 41% (1,110) |
Top 3 Massachusetts research university sites by readability score
#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. education rank 1
Boston College
A 100 readability
- Accessibility B
- Botability B
- Security A
- Usability F
- Readability A
#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. education rank 1
Northeastern University
A 100 readability
- Accessibility A
- Botability A
- Security A
- Usability B
- Readability A
#1 in Massachusetts · U.S. education rank 1
Tufts University
A 100 readability
- Accessibility A
- Botability A
- Security C
- Usability B
- 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.
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 Massachusetts by readability score
| Rank | Site | Checks passed | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
bc.edu
Boston College U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
northeastern.edu
Northeastern University U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
tufts.edu
Tufts University U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
umb.edu
University of Massachusetts-Boston U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 1 |
wpi.edu
Worcester Polytechnic Institute U.S. rank 1 |
1 of 1 checks pass | A |
| 2 |
clarku.edu
Clark University U.S. rank 16 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
harvard.edu
Harvard University U.S. rank 22 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
web.mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology U.S. rank 90 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
umass.edu
University of Massachusetts-Amherst U.S. rank 74 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
umassd.edu
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth U.S. rank 20 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 2 |
uml.edu
University of Massachusetts-Lowell U.S. rank 84 |
0 of 1 checks pass | F |
| 3 |
bu.edu
Boston University U.S. rank 121 |
Not fully scanned, so not graded. We were able to fully scan your site. Status 200 | - |
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. 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.