The Plain Language Analysis Tool software aids users in analyzing an input document in order to edit the document into plain language style. The plain language style, defined by President Bill Clinton in a 1998 executive memo, seeks to make complex documents more easily understandable by the general public.
The free software accepts a wide range of file types including .doc files from Microsoft Word and .html files. The software analyzes the document to the users specifications, which may include a readability report and theme analysis.
The Aztekera To Be Verbs Analyzer examines an entered section of text for passive voice. Considered a sign of weak writing, passive voice involves the use of "to be" verbs including "is", "was", and "be". Removing such words moves the sentence into the stronger active voice style.
The analyzer contains a box for the user's pasted text. Clicking "submit" creates a report that states the percentage of passive voice verbs in the text, compared to the 20 percent of passive verbs allowable without weakening the writing. The passive verbs used by the writer appear in red with fragments of their containing sentence for context. This allows the user to easily return to the text and make corrections.
Wordle generates colorful, typographic word clouds based on a user submitted selection of text. The more frequent a word appears in the text, the bolder its representation in a word cloud will appear. This provides an easy, visual analysis of the important points in the text.
Wordle allows for customization of the fonts and colors used in the word clouds. The different layouts available change the focus of the words and suit different lengths and styles of text. The easy to use tool creates a professional looking final product.