Investigates the effectiveness of the prose communication in contemporary corporate annual reports. Indicates that a sample of 65 Canadian annual reports for 1984 were classified as "difficult" to "very difficult" and beyond the fluent comprehension ease of 92 percent of the adult population and 56 percent of the investor…

Educators and publishers (including state departments) need to know the readability and usability of periodicals and non-text materials. On the basis of a research review of the relationship between intended audience reading level and non-text materials readability, author recommends state and federal agencies develop materials which meet the…