Perfect writing: just a mouse-click away

TextLab – software for readability, tonality and corporate language.

Perfect words at the push of a button? Okay, it’s not quite that easy – but almost. With the help of TextLab, you can write clear, customer-friendly documents that are perfectly suited to your brand.

How does it work?
The software checks your document according to objective language criteria and key metrics. Find out where your text can be improved at the click of a mouse.

And that’s just the start. TextLab also gives you specific tips on how to bring your texts to perfection. It’s as easy as running a spell-check. Only much more intelligent and comprehensive.

Accepting the changes? That’s up to you! You keep full control of your document. You decide which tips you follow and which you don’t.

TextLab helps you in so many ways:
#Corporate language

Digitise your corporate language style guide with TextLab. As a result, your employees will use ‘house style’ by default — and your corporate language will really come to life.

#Tone & style

Readability alone doesn’t guarantee a great piece of writing. It’s not just what you say, but how you say it. To make sure you strike the right tone, TextLab checks your writing’s tonality and style.

#Readability

TextLab checks your writing against a number of scientifically recognised formulas. Moreover, TextLab marks readability obstacles like nested sentences, technical and expert language and filler words. TextLab makes suggestions based on the analysis — helping you improve your texts objectively and measurably.

Benefits of TextLab

scientific

TextLab incorporates state-of-the-art research findings on comprehensibility and readability, as well as from linguistics and psycho-linguistics. The software uses scientific criteria to measure the quality of your text objectively.

simple

With TextLab you can work just as easily as with a conventional spell checker – but with much more information on your text. Even without any previous technical knowledge, you can easily manage your corporate language. And ensure consistent quality at the click of the mouse.

effective

With TextLab you won’t just write powerful texts – you’ll also increase the effectiveness of your communication and processes. And that will help make your company more successful in the long run. For example, by highlighting your brand’s unique selling points and cutting down the number of queries.

time-saving

Time is money. With TextLab, you don’t have to look up synonyms or search for suitable phrases. Within seconds TextLab shows how you can improve your text. By adding text modules, you can write entire documents with just a few clicks.

self-learning

TextLab learns your company’s preferred wording and tone as well as your own writing style. You have so many ways to adjust TextLab to suit your business language. As a bonus, TextLab’s tips will rub off on your team – teaching them to be better writers.

consistent

TextLab helps guarantee the consistent use of your brand tone of voice in your company. Just import your spelling and language rules – and at the push of a button, you’ll see whether or not the text meets all requirements.

Can’t always get what you want?
With TextLab, now you can.

Corporate language
MAKE SURE YOUR
WRITING’S ON-BRAND.
Language is an important part of your corporate identity. Do you have a defined tone of voice? And is it actively used day-to-day? A lively corporate language requires more than goodwill and a manual. Practice what you preach: TextLab actively supports you in making sure your corporate style is being followed every day.
Digital style guide
With TextLab, you can digitise your business’s style guide. Upload your terminology, spelling and language rules and easily keep them up-to-date. At the click of a mouse, see if your text follows the rules. This enables the entire team to incorporate brand language in their daily routine and really live it.
Corporate Language Index (CLIX)
A worldwide first: our Corporate Language Index (CLIX) lets you instantly see if your writing is ‘loyal’ to your brand. Are all the rules of your house style being followed? Does your language meet the guidelines of your brand? CLIX translates your words into a figure. This lets you to see in a snap how well your text speaks your brand’s language. We’ll set up the Corporate Language Index to your individual requirements. CLIX is always bespoke to your brand.
The right choice of words
Your customers should be able to recognise your brand-specific wording. So, add your own lists of allowed and unallowed terms – for words you’re keen to use or that you definitely want to avoid. Make your writing sound right for your brand.
Interconnected work
TextLab is a real team player: all users can work interconnectedly. Everyone accesses the same information and can work together on the same document. For protected areas, you can assign rights at your discretion. For example, you can decide who’s allowed to enter or change specifications.
Tone & style
IT‘S NOT WHAT YOU SAY,
BUT HOW YOU SAY IT.
Readability is important but it’s only half the battle. Tone and style matter as much. Formal, outdated language has a completely different effect on your readers as a warm, friendly modern style does. TextLab checks if your words strike the right tone. And give you meaningful tips and improvements.
Tone analysis
Are you using more positive or negative language? That’s a question worth asking. Because negative terms affect your readers … negatively. Positive language, on the other hand, creates a certain positivity – even if the issue is sensitive or adverse. TextLab measures the ratio of positive to negative terms and calls attention to negative words and phrases.
Addressing analysis
Are you addressing your recipients in a direct, friendly way? Or are you using distant, impersonal forms? Are you writing from the customer’s viewpoint? TextLab checks where you’re addressing customers personally, where you’re writing from their point of view – and where you are not.
Empty phrase checker
Clichés, filler phrases and outdated terms make a text feel cumbersome and old-fashioned. If that’s not what you want, TextLab is happy to help you. The software accurately scans your text for thousands of empty phrases and outdated expressions. And suggests modern and cliché-free alternatives.
Readability

MAKING SURE YOUR MESSAGES ARE HEARD:
WRITING THAT’S EASY-TO-READ.

Comprehensibility is measurable – with scientific methods and objective statistics. TextLab analyses your documents’ readability scores and gives you specific suggestions and tips for improvement. You and your team will be able to write more effectively from the get-go. And save money on expensive proofreading.
Flesch Reading Ease
To best measure formal readability, TextLab uses the Flesch Reading Ease formula. Letters are transformed into meaningful numbers: with one glance at the Flesch Reading Ease speedometer, you’ll see how comprehensible your text is.
Meaningful tips
TextLab not only analyses – it gives you meaningful tips for improvement. The software points out obstacles in the text that impair readability: for example: over-long sentences, convoluted phrasing and hard-to-understand words. Automated suggestions help you improve your text immediately, boosting the Reading Ease score.
Specialised language included
TextLab takes your industry’s specific technical terms into account. And you can easily upload your own business terms, product names and key phrases. It’s easy to set the vocabulary for experts or lay readers. Making TextLab the perfect choice for professional sectors such as medicine, law, finance and insurance.

Where TextLab will help you

Make your readers lives easier through better writing. Whatever the subject, people prefer clear and readable texts. That’s why it pays to use TextLab. Be it letters, technical information or web copy: just choose from one of TextLab’s pre-sets and it will evaluate the text according to style.
Letters
Letters to customers are still often incomprehensible, over-formal or full of dense jargon. Using TextLab, you’ll write customer-friendly, understandable and language that strikes the right tone for your brand.
Emails
Emails are often written under time pressure. But good quality standards should always still apply. Nowadays many companies even have language rules specifically for emails. TextLab helps you to write emails with consistently high quality.
Web copy
People read web copy differently than print matter. So it’s got to be well-structured, clear and precise. This is where TextLab comes in. You’ll immediately see where you can write more concisely or clearly. And whether search engines are likely to like your wording.
Mandatory information & product info sheets
Some business sectors require mandatory information needed by law to help protect consumers, from patient information leaflets to financial terms and conditions. TextLab helps you to comply with legal requirements and formulate reader-friendly texts.
Terms, condition & other legal documents
Legal documents and terms & conditions are often written in legalese and technical language. This can be incomprehensible for average readers. But there is a better way. Legal documents can usually be re-written and made significantly clearer. TextLab helps experts express legal nuances with greater accuracy and clarity at once.
Brochures & flyers
To make sure your brochures and flyers go down well, it helps to speak the language of customers: clearly and on the same level. To boost your brand, your words should also tie in with your brand voice. Thanks to TextLab, you can do both with ease.
Employee magazines & intranet
Your colleagues prefer clear and easy-to-read writing too. With TextLab you’ll be sure your internal publications are reader-friendly and follow house style.
Press releases
Journalists want to be able to quickly and easily grasp the information in a press release. This not only significantly increases your chances of publicity, but helps your message come across more effectively too. TextLab supports you in making your PR more effective.
Invoices & reminders
Not every letter is fun to receive — think of invoices, price rises and payment reminders. But even if the contents aren’t positive, you can avoid or mitigate a negative effect: TextLab helps you frame unwelcome messages in a more neutral way. The software checks for potentially harmful expressions and unfriendly empty phrases – making suggestions for warmer or neutral alternatives.
»Implementing TextLab was an essential milestone in making our pledge to customers: ‘Trust comes through understanding’. With TextLab, we can measure whether customers find our words easy or hard to understand. At the same time, TextLab gives tips as to how a text can be improved for readability. We’ve made TextLab available to every ERGO employee since 2013. Our team love using it and it really helps our work.«

Jan-Henning Wiese
Group Leader for Project Management
ERGO Insurance Group

»TextLab is just as effective for scientific analysis as it is for business writing. The software is user-friendly and intuitive, but most importantly, it’s accurate. There’s no more objective way to rate the readability of a formal text. Even long drafts can be analysed within seconds. And what it offers for revision…This is the readability equivalent of programs that perform grammar and spell checks. And TextLab can be customized for the corporate language unique to each business.«

Dr. Frank Brettschneider, Professor
Institute for Communication Science
Hohenheim University

»Working with TextLab as a professional application is truly a pleasure. It either helps me optimize a text simply and quickly, or it confirms that my text is already readable.«

Jörg Wald
Market Research and Strategic Development
SIGNAL IDUNA Group

»This software improves the quality of our writing at work. Everyone who uses it can check their own texts. The program points out passages that are unclear and gives alternatives. The categories by which a text is rated (filler words, words with more than 18 letters, sentences with more than 20 words, passive voice…) are all clearly shown. This helps us create readable texts.«

Monika Rubbel
Project Management for the online City Hall
Wiesbaden

»TextLab has been an incredible support to our readability initiative. The program points out any weak passages. It also offers recommendations for clearer, simpler prose. We can set the parameters and customize everything for our needs. Another advantage is that TextLab lets us measure readability. That brings a new level of objectivity to debates about writing.«

Michael Wasserbauer
Union leader
D.A.S. Legal Protection AG

How TextLab works

Quite simple: intuitively and user-friendly.

How you can work with TextLab

Well prepared for your requirements. Every company has its own processes and works with different technologies. No problem for TextLab – it’s extremely flexible. The software supports the most popular technologies and future-proof standards.

Software as a service

Just work with TextLab in your browser. All you need is web access. Your data is encrypted to the highest security standards.

Business server

Here, a server running TextLab is installed into your IT environment. This way all employees can access the full functionality of TextLab from your intranet. It’s just as simple as using TextLan online.

MS Word plug-in

Check your texts directly in Microsoft Word. TextLab is available for versions of Word from Word 2010 onwards.

Programming interface

TextLab has an extensive XML interface. So, in theory, you can integrate TextLab into any word processor.

Who uses TextLab

Better texts for many great businesses. TextLab has been running successfully for years inside many of the world’s top corporations. Insurance companies, banks, energy providers and telecoms firms are all using TextLab today. We also have clients at scientific institutions and government authorities.

TextLab is for anyone who wants to communicate clearly, effectively, and in a style that’s true to your organisation or brand. And for everyone who wants their writing to better connect with its readers.

»With TextLab, you can easily – and significantly – improve your company’s written communication across every touchpoint. Boosting readability. Aligning style. And making sure it meets the needs of Compliance. Freeing up time for you and your team, so you can focus on helping your customers.

TextLab makes it easy to apply your brand voice. There’s no need for style guides or PDFs people don’t read… TextLab can learn all your ‘house rules’. So they’re always there, digitised within every document. Keeping all your business writing on-brand.«

Dr. Anikar Haseloff,
CEO H&H Communication Lab GmbH

Test TextLab with your writing

For your free demo simply send us an email or give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

H&H Communication Lab GmbH
Hindenburgring 31
89077 Ulm
Germany
+49 731 932 84-15
info@comlab-ulm.de
www.comlab-ulm.de
2020 H&H Communication Lab GmbH

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