Readglass

Browser extension, accessibility

Coming soon Working name

The reading aids that usually take a handful of extensions, in one calm toolbar.

Readglass line focus on a sample article called Walking the Old Canal Path: the whole page is dimmed except one bright band around the line being read. — Line focus dims everything but the line you're on. The article is an example page written for these screenshots.

Where it stands

Pre-release, not published yet. The free extension and the Pro features are built. Still to do: a final name, the signing key, browser store accounts and checks on real devices.

Readglass puts reading mode, line focus, tints and read aloud into one browser extension. Pick a font (OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible Next, Lexend and Andika come with it), spacing and line length, dim everything except the line you're on, or have the page read aloud with each word highlighted as it goes. It only runs where you ask it to.

Who it's for

People who read a lot on the web and want their reading aids in one place, with a privacy promise they can actually check. It's a reading comfort tool, not a medical product.

What it does

Reading mode: four bundled, openly licensed fonts or the page's own, plus text size, letter, word, line and paragraph spacing and line length. Switching off restores the page exactly.
Line focus: a reading ruler or a mask that dims everything but the current line, following the mouse or the text cursor, with keys to step line by line.
Colors: eight tints and three reading themes, with a contrast check that warns when a combination drops below the WCAG 4.5:1 guideline for body text.
Read aloud from the selection or the paragraph you click, highlighting each word without changing the page, with voices on your device by default.
Presets described by what they change, never by what they promise, and settings you can save to a file.
Works only where you ask: per tab by default, with always-on and per-site settings for the sites you choose.
Pro: a pronunciation dictionary, named profiles per site, and simplify a paragraph with a language model you run yourself.

More screenshots

The same article in Readglass reading mode, set in a large rounded typeface with very wide letter and word spacing on a cream background. — Reading mode, with the letter and word spacing turned way up.

What it keeps, and where

Readglass works inside your browser and collects nothing. There is no account, no analytics, no tracking, no ads and no crash reporting.

Network use: Online read-aloud voices (off until you turn it on); Simplify a paragraph (Pro) (off until you turn it on).
What reaches Lanternwright: Nothing.

The full Readglass privacy section

Questions

Can Readglass see what I read?: No. There's no Readglass server, and it collects nothing. Text only leaves your device if you pick an online voice or point the optional simplify feature at another computer, and Readglass tells you that first.

A reading comfort tool. It may make reading more comfortable; it makes no promises about reading outcomes.

Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari are trademarks of their respective owners. Readglass is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.