Readability of Computer Modem Program Manuals of the 1980s & 1990s

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THE READABILITY

OF COMPUTER 'MODEM PROGRAM

MANUALS

By Eric C. Talaska

A TERM PAPER

Communication Dr. Robert M. Brady

University of Arkansas October 12, 1993

COMM3343 Readability Analysis Assignment Fall 1993

1. Meets General Requirements of Assignment Flesch Reading Ease /' Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level/ Gunning'sFog/' Typed/

t;)-

Use ~f"Samplesll to generalize from

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Describes One or Compares TW9"Texts"

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2. Organization ,

/

Introduction v' Body/ A~f Conclusion ~

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3. Presentation of Data and Results

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EaSYO~~FOnoW Accura~~ns

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4. Paper Points to Importance of Study

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I.

II.

III.

INTRODUCTION

1

SAMPLES FROM QMODEM

7

READABILITY

STATISTICS

OF QMODEM

12

Counts Averages Readability

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

SAMPLES FROM CROSSTALK

14

"MANUAL" FORMULAS

17

FOR CROSSTALK

"MANUAL" READABILITY

READABILITY Counts Averages Readability

STATS. OF CROSSTALK ...19

STATISTICS

FOR CROSSTALK

20

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..

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.

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VIII.

CONCLUSIONS ••••••••••••..••.••••••••..•••••

Results

of formula applications

Relationship

IX.

21

BIBLIOGRAPHY

to questions

•.•••••.•..........••.•..••••••

22

,,. ....._

THE READABILITY

There computer

OF COMPUTER

is an increase ~

modems

that is directly

computer

manuals.

linked to the readability

In this study, concentration

placed upon modem manuals,

although

to any other computer are becoming

to use without languages

and skills. more

manuals.

addressed

regarding

ways they are. they written

Unfortunately,

they written

to find out why.

that need to be

why the modem manuals

are written

are they written

many people abandon

computer

will vary,

via critical

towards

of demographics?

Or are learning

Why do so

use due to frustration

trying to figure out the manuals

(especially)?

depending

analysis 1

Are

that can afford moderns~

for anyone that is motivated regardless

the

for?

a5 5marter than everyofte els;i

how to use a modem,

interpreted

the manuals

(in this case, not

questions

for the fortunÂŤ~peoPle

to these questions

computer

however,

"user friendly"

What demographics

~nd are 5tereotyped

that is, easier

of "difficult"

important

shall be

Fortunately,

easier to read), and thus it is necessary There are very

of

they are extremely

more user friendly,

the knowledge

are not becoming

to communicate

but there is a problem with computer

literacy

computers

MANUALS

in the use of

(modulators/demodulators)

more efficiently,

similar

MODEM PROGRAM

in

The answers

on how the data is

of data prese~d.

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There have been many serious

â&#x20AC;˘ r

about the modern communication accessible,

difficult

to understand

even be some pOlitical \)0

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if~

~o">

however, manuals

...\......,

be difficult

issues addressed

revolution.

it is more vulnerable

reason why the modem manuals

social

Since it is more

to abuse.

are seemingly

for the average influence

This may be a purposely

reader.

inVOlved.

to uncover.

made

There may

That would,

It seems as if the

are wri tten in such a way as to "w'eed" out a certain

,

audience.

The readability problem

of modem manuals

of cyberphobia

accept something

either.

does not aid in the

People

are less likely to

new if they cannot understand

one reason why less than 5% of the population selves computer-competent. make the manuals

Why wouldn't

easy to understand,

more likely to buy the products Again, perhaps afraid of modems,

because

ignoran~

considers

them-

the manufacturers

since people would be

of the previous or even average

and thus increase

This is

if they can understand

/.:'''2 II

II

it.

reasons.

them?

They may be

people wo ul.d abuse

the chances of modems being con-

trolled by the government.

But wha t about whi te collar ones that pose the greatest certainly

threat towards

Aren't they the

society?

They

are the ones that are most likely to understand

the modem manuals. this dilemma.

This arguing

increases

With that argument,

stand why the manufacturers manuals

criminals?

it is difficult

and writers

easy for the average person

the importance

to under-

are not making

to comprehend.

of

the

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3

'00l.9

:~/ One mixture

necessary

of English

about equivalent computer

user.

words are:

discussion

involves

and computer

jargon.

window,

For example,

jargon

and loop.

differently

statistics

one wouldn't

using the standard

simple words become more complex

Are the

readability

formulas

This

when "clean a

This jargon will no qoubt have a profound

on the readability

is

to the beginning

run, menu, bug, memory, must be interpreted

the

jargon

Some of the most basic computerese

reading a modem manual.

because

Computer

to ancient hieroglyphics

kind of vocabulary

window."

computerese:

affect

formulas

NtJ ~~

to understand~

in~ev;~

lP",1.[ '"

Ta~

"----

book appropriate

in this study?

trfi

).1yt

"'C /Y

It seemS-W-J::5"e tlie case

that they are, but they need to be more sophisticated.

They

,S1>V

Ur~~2) ~I~~

will give us a basic understanding manuals.

There are many tables, outlines,

other various

outlays

of typeset

times help readability This probably example,

depends

and sometimes

Thus far, the discussion

primarixy

to another manual. attention manual .

will be Crosstalk

is called QMODEM.

but another may be

of a distraction.

the readability

is compared

for Windows,

"1"

â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘ ,

the most

and the other

Both are user's manuals

sort va re .11'\ pacKage-s.

of

and contrasted

that will receive

ofJt'tY( ..

wi th7tomputer

For

has been based upon modem

but often

The manual

and

hinder readability.

This study involves

one manual,

of the

that some-

on what the reader prefers.

to be somewhat

in general.

pictures,

in the manuals

one reader may prefer pictures,

find the pictures

manuals

of the readability

that corne

.

4 â&#x20AC;˘

Most emphasis

t

will be placed

because

is most preferred

Windows

is becoming

as opposed

on Crosstalk

by users.

more preferred

It is also in Windows. and more efficient

to the way in which QMODEM

is used.

allows the user to work with the modem more dependent regardless

on the user's

manual,

to use

Windows

instead of being

of which must be used

of how smart the user is.

of use by allowing

for Windows

Windows

the use of a mouse.

promotes

ease

Qmodem requires

user to type all data in for processing,

assuming

the

the user

knows exactly what to type. ~

~

((~.~

l

because

(

20% rule of thumb.

) ~~.

More samples have been collected it is longer than Crosstalk,

glossary.

in context.

asked questions

that includes

with answers

and a 53 word

It also has six paragraphs

has two paragraphs

what Crosstalk

is.

at the beginning

Crosstalk,

With no glossary, about the intended statements

and a large table that explains

and an appendix

however,

that

divided

in

does not have a glossary.

let us look at what the guide says

audience,

to explain: k'opiea

of which Crosstalk direetly

PC users who want to communicate Managers

that

(4.5) is.

It also has three paragraphs

explain how to use the guide, seven parts.

They

appendix

explain how to use the manual and what Qmodem Crosstalk

a better

and an index to help the user in

Qmodem has a helpful

fifteen commonly

thus allowing

Both are very similar

both have an appendix comprehension.

on the Qmodem book

has four

rrOM -eeJÂŁ-e). with a host computer

who want a basic understanding

of Crosstalk

.

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5

and its features

â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘

Before reading knowledge

this guide, you should have a working

of the following

*

Microsoft(R)

*

DOS 3.3 or newer1

operating

Windows(TM)

What can be classified

3.1

as "working knowledge"

some other form of a readability generalized literate.

environments:

that the intended

may take

test, but it can be

reader should be computer

This means that the reader should meet several

prerequisites

before using the manual.

that wants to use the computer the modem?

Apparently

What about the user

for the sole purpose

of using

this person would be out of luck

unless he or she meets the prerequisites.

We now know that the guide computer Modems

literate

audience.

are very useful

(manual)

is written

for a

That fact is rather disturbing.

in society

for things such as elec-

tronic mail and data inquiries.

Why don't the publishers

spend just a couple more dollars

to add in better glossaries

and the such? willing

It seems to be the case that consumers

to pay for such an improvement

very small compared

are

since the cost is

to the cost the modem and computer.

There are other books that help, but since these programs are very new, the books are already fore a challenge

lCrosstalk Associates,

obsolete.

to keep up with the latest

for Windows

It is there-

in moderns.

(Digital Communications

Inc., 1992), p. xiii.

.';..

...6

The deeper, end of the study shall begin. three types of readability

formulas

Primarily,

will be used:

the

~~ Flesch Reading Gunning

Ease

Fog Index

(1974), the Flesch-Kincai~

(1968), all of which

(

/rvd..

and the

determine

a grade

level of readability.

The Microsoft Fle~h Reading

Corporation's

chart for interpreting

Ease scores differ from that of Flesh's

original

chart only in the estimated

column.

Both charts will be considered

in this study, but Microsoft's

reading grade level in analyzing

information -

attention

the

data ~ ~O~ ~ IJ 1').1 .e,ÂŤ, ~e most ~

will

-

/It"~

in charts due to its sophistication.

The differ-

~ovl~?

K~ 0'-1 1>(1 r for Microsoft simply means Microsoft's

-

than that of Flesch's is that if Flesch's

E.R.G.

(for Flesch)

original.

E.R.G.

should not interfere

it is virtually

impossible

way.

is "7th grade",

is presented

That difference

What that then

as "6th grade."

with the average

since

to get the exact grade level any-

-----------------The first statistics

will be from the Qmodem book.

Five samples were randomly intervals

of about 60 pages.

250 functional first page.

pages.

from the book at

The book has a total of about

The first sample was taken from the

The reason for doing so is that the opening

the book usually continue

selected

to read.

actual samples

determines

whether

The following

The samples were copied

or not the reader will

two pages contain

and the re-compiled

of

the

data from the computer.

out of the book

including

errors.

I

.. . .. ~

7 Sample #1

This docIulmenltaltion is or/gan/ized for use as an in/iltial setJup guide, and as a refJerJenoo book.

Intro/duc/tory inlfotlmaltion on Q/mo/dem 4/./5 is pre/sen/ted first (chap/ter 1), folllowed by step/-by/step inlstalllaltion

and conlfiglulraltion

inlstrucltions (chap/mrs 2 and 3), folllowed by com/mand

refJer/enee maltelrilal (chap/ter 4 and 5) and fi/nal/ly by Qlmo/dem 4/./5 Script doc/ulmenltaltion (chap/tel 6).

UnIless you are in/tilmatelly familiar with Qlmo/dem 4/./5 you should be/gin with chap/ter 1 and foVlow the inlstrucltions through chap/ter 2. Aflter comlplet/ing the set/up ma/te/rilal, a full read/ing of the com/plete conlfig/ulraltion

and op/erlaltionlal refler/enee is strong/ly reclomlmendled.

Q/mo/dem 4/./5 is a very verlsaltile and conlfiglulralble pro/gram.

.

,

.

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8

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Sample #2 This is probla/bly the sin/gle most want/edfea/ture

in a comlmulni/caltion

pro/gram ... A meth/od

to quick/ly con/figlure your new mo/dem to work! It's not like the old days where we hadjust a hand/ful of moldem comlmands and ev/er/ylbod/y knew them by beart.

Now we have High-Speed moldems with things like MIN/P and V/./3//2 and VI.I4//2 and Speed BuffJer/ing and so forth. Each moIdem mak/er that en/hanced up/on the Hayes stand/ard had to come up with their own new comlmands.

To add to the con/fulsion, some have the same comlmand(s). but

mean diflfer/ent things to diflfer/ent mo/dems!

.

':

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9

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Sample #3

The QuicklLeam inlter/ac/tions,

Script Re/cordler is much like a vidle/o camlerla.

As it re/cords your

it ere/ates a Script which ean be re/played latler to repllilcate the ses/sion while

QuicklLeam was actIive. AL T Q is a tog/gle; if the QuickJLeam reloordler is not act/ive, it -is startled Ifit is act/ive, it ter/milnates and the Script is saved.

In a out/shell, QuieklLeam

stores inlcomling dalta inlrer/nallly un/til you type inlforlmaltioQ

your/self. QuickJLeam aslsumes that your dalta was en/tered in re/sponse to a prompt or ~s/~n I

I

fromthe syS/tem you are con/nec/ted to. The last 3112 cbar/ac/ters re/ceived are as/Sl1meQ to be tlle prompt to which you are re/spondling, comlmand.

which will be re/flectled inthe filnal script as a WAITIFOR

10

..

Sample #4 This is the pop/ullar stream/lag pro/to/col

put in/to the publlic do/main by TeVeinet Zlmo/dem

us/es a varJilaible sized block to trans/fer date over even the nois/i/est phone lines. Zlmo/dem was de/signed as a Batch trans/fer pro/to/col. As such, it shares the same trans/fer winldows and al/lo/caltion methlods that the YImoJdem pro/to/col us/es.

Should er/rors occur. ZlmoJdem does not re/quire a bigh-/speed or er/ror-/corJ~tJing

mo/dem

with MlNIP or VI.I4/2 to be efIfectlive. While it is not as fast as Y/mo/demlG or Xlmo/dem-l1IK/G, it does per/fonn well enough to have be/come a 'stanldard' in the inldus/try.

,

:

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Sample #5

What is script? A script is a QlMOIDEM 4/./5 pro/gram. de/signed to per/form spe/ciflic and/or rep'e/tiItive funcltions much fastler and more re/lila/bly than with manlulal methlods. Scripts can be used to do just about any/thing that can be done at the keylboard; your i/mag/ilnaition is the only lim/it. Com/man uses for scripts inlclude: 1. Au/toimat/ed log/on 2. File transfers

3. Com/pletelly au/to/matled seslsions 4. Unlatltendled QIMOIDEM 41.15 op'er/altions The Quick/Learn Script Re/corlder is an exltreme/ly conlvenlient fa/ciUiIty, but it has its Iimliltaltions.

Bas/i/cal/ly, QuicklLeam can on/ly Ie/cord your inlter/ac/tions with are/mote

com/pulter and repllilcate them ex/actIly. It canlnot add delcilsion-/makling

log/ie to the scripts il

creates, or aclcount for unlexlpectled or chang/ing con/di/tions. 2

2

(Mustang Software, Inc., 1992) In chronological order by sample: pages 3, 35, 121, 143, 192.

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TABLE 1 READABILITY

STATISTICS:

Sample#

QMODEM

1

2

3

4

5

Words

103

97

120

112

110

108

Characters

547

437

564

526

594

534

Paragraphs

2

2

2

2

6

6

Sentences

5

5

7

7

7

6

Sentences per Paragraph

2.5

2.5

3.5

3.5

1.2

2.6

Words per Sentence

20.6

19.4

17.1

16.0

15.7

17.8

4.5

4.7

4.7

5.4

4.9

Averages:

Avg.

(These factors influence the readability of a document)

Characters per Word

5.3

Readability: (Measured by these standard indexes) Passive Sentences

0%

0%

71%

14%

Flesch Reading Ease...........

23.3

65.9

65.4

58.4

Flesch Grade Level...

17.0

8.4

8.5

10.5

13.3

Flesch-Kincaid.............................................

15.1

8.9

7.9

9.1

9.6

10.1

Gunning Fog Index

17.6

10.6

9.7

10.3

12.2

12.1

Source: Microsoft Word

14% 48.1

20% 52.2

11.5

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These statistics

on Qmodem

guide has a Flesch reading

that the Qmodem

ease of "fairly difficult

the 9th to 12th grade reading by the way, satisfies

indicate

level."

That reading

both Microsoft

and Flesch.

ease would be drastically

avoided

due to the inaccurate

changed.

information

level,

If the

charts and such from the Qmodem book were included, reading

and of

the

They were that would have

been given from the formula applications.

The five samples book is in paragraph determine

As portrayed

earlier,

or hindered

The nature

It is difficult

each reader may be either

What makes them especially

work correctly.

There

comprehension;

and illustrations.

complex

is that every

in order for the program

the reader must comprehend

factor that makes them complex

in consideration,

Now the study shall concentrate

random samples ed.

guide.

Then manual

formulas

Taken this

to say that a few findings.

on the readability

First, on the following

and the Microsoft

in

is that more jargon

is used in the text.

it can be conclusive

to

all of it.

grade levels need to be added on to the computer

the Crosstalk

is complex,

is no plus or minus any percent

is used than that of which

to

affect the read-

of the charts and illustrations

must by exact

most of the

that it depends on each

by the charts

single character

Another

from.

This study will conclude

facilitated

however.

or sentence

because

how the charts and illustrations

ing ease. reader.

are still adequate

statistics

will be applied

of

pages, three

will be present-

from them.

14

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Sample #1: Crosstalk Cross/talk is a comlmulni/ca/tions to comlmulnilcate PIC can

pro/gram that aJ/lows a PIC run/Ding Milcrolsoft Win/dows 3/./1

with a host. The host can be any com/putler that Cross/talk is conlnec/ting to. A

oon/nect to the host dilrectlly, through a mo/dem atltached to the PIC, or through a mo/dem

shared on a LINN. The host does not have to be run/ning Cross/talk in or/der for your PIC to conlnect to it.

Cross/talk alIlows you to share inlfor/ma/tion, comlputling pow/er, and re/sourc/es with other P/Cs, with buJIleltin boards and other on-lIine serv/ic/es, and with main/frame and minlilcom/put/er sys/tems, such as IIBIM mainlframes and OlEIC VIAIXf(R.) minlilcom/putlers.

;,.'

15

â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘

Sample #2: Crosstalk To transfer files to a Ker/mit host that does not sup/port servler mode, fol/low these steps: J. Make sure you are con/neetled and log/ged on to the host com/put/er, as ex/plained in "Con/neetling to the Host, " earlliler in this chapter.

2. Pre/pare the host to send or re/ceive your file by enlterling the aplpro/pri/ate host com/mands or star/ring the pro/tO/col pro/gram, ifnec/eslsary.

3. From the Ae/tion pull-/down, ehoose File Transfer and then Send File(s) or Re/eeive File(s), delpend/ing on the di/rec/tion of the translfer. Eifther the Send FUes or Re/ceive Files diallog box is dis/played.

4. If you are send/ing a file to the Ker/mit host, type the name of the file in the File Name ed/it box.

i-'

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.

Sample #3: Crosstalk N/ AlSIl suplport aIJlows Cross/talk to com/mulnilcate through an AlClS to a mo/dem pool. You can use N/ AlSII sup/port with the folllow/ing inlter/face pro/grams:

*

Net/work Pro/duct Cor/por/altion's Net/work Com/mu/nilca/tioru; Serlvic/es In/ter/face (N/CIS/f)

*

Tel/elbit Alsyn/chro/nous Comlmu/nilca/tions

Serv/er

To use N/ AlSIL N/c/SIE, and Alc/S, you must run the in/ter/face pro/gram after loadling your net/work soft/ware and before startling Winldows. (Cross/talk pas/ses da/ta to the inlter/face pro/gram, which then dilrects the dalta to the aplpro/pri/ate net/work delvice.)

Relfer to the READIME.ITEXT file for inlfor/maltion on the la/test N/ AlSIl soft/ware ver/sions testled with Crossltalk. The READ/ME.ITEXT file also inlc1udes a list of testled N/ AlS/J/NJc/SIl driv/ers and ver/sion num/bers. 3

3

Digital Communications Associates, Inc., pages chronologically by sample: 1-2, 3-28, a-II

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17 12

..

The following the readability

statistics

statistics

(which will be compared

by Microsoft)

with

are done manually, . l

1

.._

__ .-

Sample number one ~all

number one of Crosstalk. presented

before

come from

sample

is analyzed.

depicts how to get the Flesch Reading R.E.

~ {><

\0

0

-ro --r<f~ ~

~

~

sample

will be The following

Ease score:

206.835 - .846 wI - 1.015 sl

Where R.E.

=

reading

vII

=

number of syllables

sl

=

average number

ease score

:("

c¢

I...\.~ ~

=

previous

All three formulas

another

d-t~ .

O~ voV'f'VL'~

that is, with step by step calculations.

IIV-

per 100 words

"",,'"

of wo r d s per sentence

~~

So, we have R.E.

=

206.835

R.E.

=

206.835

R.E.

=

49.5

The following where G.L. and

sl sw

= = =

formula

- 1.015(20.8)

J ItA -Jt)t- 0 ~1 J. ".,c( ~ is for the

(.39 sl + 11.8 sw) avg. number

-Kincaid:

-

of words

avg. number of

=

.39(20.8) + 11.8

G.L.

= =

8.112 + 19.588 -

The Gunning where G.L. and

swl

tence word

So, we have G.L.

G.L.

d'f1 ~'VA

- 15.59

12.11

Fog index formula

=

.4(sl + swl)

=

number

is a follows:

of words that have three syllables

or more per 100 words So, we have G.L.

=

.4(20.8 + 15)

G.L.

=

14.3

r ,:

18 ~3 The same formulas

â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘

apply to sample number two as

follows:

-

Flesch R.E. = 206.835 R.E.

206.835

:::::

1.015(19.8)

J'

106 _

R.E. Flesch-Kincaid

Gunning

G.L. = .39(19.8)

=

7.722 + 14.75

G.L.

=

6.9

Fog G.L.

= =

.4(19.8 + 11)

Applying

R.E. R.E. G.L.

Flesch-Kincaid

G.L.

.39(17.5)

15.59

~re-

of all three samples~ Obviously,

table~

is~.

this table

of data.

r~organjzed

J r.l...

I J..)

on the

is not as complex

results

figuring

as compared

The algarythm

must confl ict wi th the way calculations.

pu. f!J'n

The results of manual

and different

processing

in these manual

-

- 15.59

.4(17.5 + 26)

shows a lot of similar the Microsoft

+ 11.8(1.97)

6.825 + 23.245

17.4

t~.

1.015(17.5)

22.4

=

as the previous

Microsoft

166.662 - 17.7625

G.L.

-1-

-

206.835

Fog G.L.

~r

to the last sample, we get: .846(197)

14.5

The. results

",f)01

15.59

206.835

= =

G.L.

~ble

= = = = =

to

used by

syllables were counted

The syllables in the following

were counted results.

'-

I""

j

PII"fWl 1

15.59

12.3

the formulas

Flesch R.E.

-

j~ ~

-

+ 11.8

G.L.

G.L.

Gunning

__ /,)1 ~1,)(E.

80.7

:::::

~I-r"~<

IN

by

p.

c((O)~

I

19 ]4 TABLE READABILITY

/fJ LK

::2

STATISTICS:>

,

NfCd ~ d~~f~~

================================================= Sample:#: 1

2

3

Avg.

49.5

80.7

22.4

50.9

Flesch-Kincaid. ........

12.1

6.9

14.5

11.2

Gunning

14.4

12.3

17.4

14.7

Flesch Reading

Ease ....

Fog Index

These statistics in readability. previous

indicate

When compiling

statistical

results,

Qmodem and the Crosstalk

that each sample

data from all of the

we can conclude

guides are unstable

that both the in readability.

If more samples were taken, the averages considerably.

is unique

It is safe to predict

may change

that because

of the

:#)cL fluctuation

among averages4

have a profound

'

Just one sample evidentlr

impact on the averages.

Among the three main formulas, is the most inconsistent. measurement measurement.

is somewhat

As noted earlier,

of a conflict

This applies

the Gunning

for.

somewhere

around

considering

1

the guides.

syllable

towards both modem guides.

to what grade level the modem guides

According

Fox index

among each means of

The issue here is that it is difficult closely

can

to the charts,

the grade

11!;z. That is difficult

how much trouble

to distinguish are written

level seems to be to believe

the average adult has in using

_20

.'

TABLE 3 READABILITY

Counts:

STATISTICS:

SampIe# 1

CROSSTALK

2

3

Average

104

115

103

107

Characters........................................

490

524

584

533

Paragraphs.......................................

2

6

5

4

Sentences.

5

4

6

5

2.5

.7

1.2

1.5

20.8

28.8

17.2

22.3

4.7

4.6

5.7

5.0

Words...............................................

Ayerages: (These factors influence the Readability of a document)

Sentences per Paragraph.................

Words per Sentence.........................

Characters per Word........................

Readability:

(Measured by these standard indexes)

Passive Sentences........

Flesch Reading

0%

25%

Ease........................

-

0%

8%

43.6

54.8

Flesch Grade Level...

13.8

7.4

14.0

Flesch-Kincaid

12.2

5.8

10.9

11.7

Source: Microsoft Word

t'f..(,tqt ",*"

(s

~ljl,L1(v

/'<

1l11'\

Su t:> ~ -no-Y' 'P M

\1

These samples were taken just as samples were taken from the Qmodem guide. There were approximately

140 functional pages in the Crosstalk: guide. Again, Crosstalk is very similar to

Qmodem in context.

()u ~ ~

do

'. ~.

21

According approximately 100 words.

to Microsoft,

standard

writing

standard

equivalent

slightly

Microsoft

writing

per

have an average of above the so called

also claims that the Flesch-

index of seven or eight is

to the Flesch Reading

modem guides averages

averages

and 147 syllables

The modem guide statistics

"standard writing".

manuals

5

17 words per sentence

about 20 words per sentence,

Kincaid

1

Ease score of 60-70.

above that also; therefore

are at least more difficult

The

the modem

to read than "standard

writing" .

We must not forget that part of understanding guides

involve the interaction

no formulas

to calculate

how readable

data is one the monitor. relatively

difficult

of the computer.

what

on the monitor when using the modem. function

and

that it is

is being displayed

However,

there is a

key that, when used, allows the user to access a

wide range of explanations

for "what does wha t

One of three things are necessary become possible a modem:

There are

the information

We can generalize

to understand

the

for the average person

rewriting

the user friendly instructors

in computer

interested

in using

modifications

and/or the teaching

classes.

"

for modem use to

of the modem manuals,

program,

i

of the

of

~\

<"

.~

.;;.: ..

... " .....~

,.

1•

BIBLIOGRAPHY GUIDES Digital

Communications

Associates,

Inc. Crosstalk

Window·s. 1992.

Mustang

Software,

Inc. QMODEM.

22>

1992.

for