Illuminated by the smog: Exploring the readability of political websites during the 2010 UK general election

Lloyd, Jenny; Dean, Diane

Abstract

The 59% turnout in the 2001 UK General Election raised serious concerns about democratic legitimacy and resulted in a concerted effort to re-engage citizens’ in electoral participation. Whilst explanations for the decline are many and disparate, there is a significant strain of literature that highlights a lack of perceived relevance and of political understanding. Using the SMOG readability formula, this paper identifies a mismatch between the readability of UK online political communication and the level of functional literacy of the audience they are seeking to reach. Whilst up to 16 million adults (nearly half the UK workforce) have reading skills that equate to a level normally expected of children leaving primary school, all the political information resources analysed were pitched at a level of literacy expected of a successful secondary school leaver. It argues that this has the potential to actively impede the voters’ ability to engage in political discourse and ultimately undermine efforts to improve public engagement with politics.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Academy of Marketing Conference 2012
• Start Date: Jul 2, 2012
• End Date: Jul 5, 2012
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: political communication, websites, political literacy
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/954433
• Additional Information: Additional Information : [e-mail]; Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Academy of Marketing Annual Conference, University of Southampton’s School of Management, 2nd – 5th July 2012