g1smd - 12:52 am on Mar 23, 2009 (gmt 0)

I think the point about "reading age" was also trying to convey that although your reader is 40 years old, has several degrees, and a highly paid job - at the very moment he is reading your page, with the kids screaming in the background, the wife wanting him to get off the damn computer and eat, the phone ringing, the ballgame already started on the TV, and a myriad of other things going on around, that he isn't going to be able to take in, or concentrate on, anything beyond very basic-level stuff, stuff aimed at a twelve year old in terms of vocabulary, word-choice, and sentence structure.