What is intelligibility?

It’s not just about being readable. It’s about being understood.

Regulators now expect firms to go beyond plain language. Communications must be intelligible, meaning communication can be clearly understood by the average consumer, in context, with full awareness of consequences.
frame-fca

What it means

“Able to be understood by the target audience, including the context and the consequences of the information to the reader.” (FCA Consumer Duty)

The term intelligibility is defined in legislation and case law. It goes far beyond tone or readability, it’s about consumer understanding in real-world contexts.

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that intelligibility means a document must:

  • Enable consumers to understand the meaning of terms and their practical implications
  • Allow an average consumer to evaluate the economic risks and consequences
  • Be presented in a way that supports transparency and informed decision-making
Group 162599

What's expected

What Regulators Expect

The FCA’s Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A.5.3) makes this a formal requirement. "A firm must support retail customer understanding so that communications;"

  • Meet the information needs of customers
  • Are likely to be understood
  • Help customers make effective, timely, informed decisions
Group 162589

Testing intelligibility

The Real Challenge

Despite its importance, intelligibility is hard to test:

  • Traditional readability tools (like Flesch-Kincaid) don’t consider context, consequences, or complexity of meaning
  • There’s no universal method to assess intelligibility at scale
  • Firms often rely on manual reviews or checklists, which aren’t scalable or objective

How we can help

Where Amplifi comes in


Amplifi was built to make intelligibility measurable, trackable, and auditable. We go beyond surface-level checks. Our platform uses behavioural insights and FCA-aligned models to:

Group 1171278112 (1)
Intelligibility-1

Setting the standard

Building the Intelligibility Standard

Amplifi is working with regulators, academic partners, and industry stakeholders to define a clear Intelligibility Standard.

We're committed to making this framework more accessible over time, and collaborating with organisations who share our goal of building a fairer, more transparent communication ecosystem

Want to see how intelligible your communications are?

Upload a document and see your risk score in minutes.
Upload a document