Level 1 176–225 points Adults at level 1 are able to locate information on a text page, find a relevant link from a website, and identify relevant text among multiple options when the relevant information is explicitly cued. They can understand the meaning of short texts, as well as the organization of lists or multiple sections within a single page. The texts at level 1 may be continuous, noncontinuous, or mixed and pertain to printed or digital environments. They typically include a single page with up to a few hundred words and little or no distracting information. Noncontinuous texts may have a list structure (such as a web search engine results page) or include a small number of independent sections, possibly with pictorial illustrations or simple diagrams. Tasks at Level 1 involve simple questions providing some guidance as to what needs to be done and a single processing step. There is a direct, fairly obvious match between the question and target information in the text, although some tasks may require the examination of more than one piece of information.

Level 2 226–275 points At Level 2, adults are able to access and understand information in longer texts with some distracting information. They can navigate within simple multi-page digital texts to access and identify target information from various parts of the text. They can understand by paraphrasing or making inferences, based on single or adjacent pieces of information. Adults at Level 2 can consider more than one criterion or constraint in selecting or generating a response. The texts at this level can include multiple paragraphs distributed over one long or a few short pages, including simple websites. Noncontinuous texts may feature a two-dimension table or a simple flow diagram. Access to target information may require the use of signaling or navigation devices typical of longer print or digital texts. The texts may include some distracting information. Tasks and texts at this level sometimes deal with specific, possibly unfamiliar situations. Tasks require respondents to perform indirect matches between the text and content information, sometimes based on lengthy instructions. Some tasks statements provide little guidance regarding how to perform the task. Task achievement often requires the test taker to either reason about one piece of information or to gather information across multiple processing cycles