Instruction in the writing of abstracts is of growing importance for technical writers, both as a valuable skill in its own right and for the beneficial side effects on other writing competencies. A proposed unit on abstract writing includes activities relevant to the abstract as a distinct writing form and assignments on writing an effective informative abstract.

Technical writers apparently show little concern with the measurement of readability, defined as level of reading comprehension. Some evidence and reasons for this indifference are presented. Three current methods of measuring readability are described. Two readability formulas involving word load and sentence load are the Dale-Chall, which uses a word-list, and the Fry, which uses a graph. The cloze procedure is a non-formula technique which involves the reader as well as the material being evaluated. The application of these methods is illustrated with passages of technical writing of varying difficulty. Some implications and applications of readability concepts are indicated.