Reading Extensions

read&write for Google Chrome: r&w for Google Chrome is a commercially developed extension suite that supports students in the areas of reading and writing. It is purchased based on a subscription basis but it is free for teachers to use. Unlike some free extensions that may disappear or lack technical support, TextHelp is constantly improving the product and looking to add new features.

ATBar: this is also an accessibility suite but unlike r&w, it is completely free. The tools contained within this extension are not necessarily exclusive to reading but cover a multitude of supports to assist students with disabilities. These include font customization (size and style), spellchecking, dictionary, text-to-speech, word prediction and colour overlay.

BeeLine Reader: this extension creates a more readable version of a web page by removing all the ads, comments, and other extra distracting items; colour gradient makes reading faster/easier for 90% of people

Google Dictionary: double-click any word on a web page to get a pop-up with the definition and audible pronunciation.

MagicScroll Web Reader: turns web pages into flippable e-book with easy clickable or keyboard control as well as font size and page colour

OpenDyslexic/Helper Bird: overrides all fonts on webpages with the OpenDyslexic font, and formats pages to be more easily readable

Readline: designed originally for speed reading, it can be reconfigured to read text one word at a time at a slower speed.

Announcify / Select and Speak / SpeakIt! / ChromeSpeak / VoiceInstead: all of these extensions essentially do the same thing. They turn selected text into speech. Announcify both distills as well as reads text.

Announcify / Mercury Reader / Cruxlight: these extensions distill (simplify) a webpage so that any distractions such as ads, graphics, or unrelated text are removed. Announcify both distills as well as reads text. Mercury reader allows further text formatting after it has been distilled.

Summarizer / TLDR / Internet Abridged: this tool takes a selected body of text and make it simpler to read by removing parts of the text. This is a useful tool for students who may not be able to read as quickly or whose comprehension is not as great as other students.

Autohighlight: this extension automatically highlights the important content on webpages. It is similar to a summarizer extension except that it creates highlights as well. The tool can be used to increase or reduce the amount of information that is highlighted.

Google Translate: this tool allows students to quickly translate a word or a phrase from one language to another