3 Chrome Extensions that can make a difference in reading websites

 Hi everyone,

In my previous blog post, "4 Technology Strategies to Help Students Read Websites", I talked about some free and paid tools that can assist students with better accessing materials on websites.  Today, I want to focus on 3 chrome extensions to support students who struggle with reading in accessing websites.  These 3 tools will focus primarily on changing the font style of the website.

Please Note:  While some students find a benefit to using these tools, there are other students that find that these typefaces are not helpful.  As with all Assistive Technology tools, if we follow the SETT framework (Student, Environment, Task, and Tools),  there will be some tools that are better suited for some students than for others.  Also, check out this blog post from Learning Ally about the use of "reader-friendly" fonts:  "Dyslexia--Does Font Really Matter?" 

1.  Open Dyslexic:  This free tool provides 3 typefaces with a weighted bottom.  Students can access this tool by adding the extension from the Chrome Web Store.  Once installed, the student just needs to turn the extension "on", and all websites that are visited will automatically convert to the Open Dyslexic font style until the extension is turned off.  The Open Dyslexic font is also available on the Bookshare Web Reader. 

2.  HelperBird:  HelperBird is a more comprehensive tool, offering both free and paid versions.  The free features are pretty robust, and you can check out the different plans in detail here.  This program contains the Open Dyslexic font, in addition to 28 other font options, so this could be an option in general for students that may not like the typeface that a particular website uses.  This program also contains a reader mode, text to speech, and highlighting features.  The premium program provides a reading guide, the ability to change background colors, apply a color overlay, and more!  

3.  Bee Line Reader:  This is a paid program (you can get a limited number of free reads on the extension to trial), but they offer it for free within the Bookshare Web Reader for students to access their Bookshare books.  You can also use this program to read books on your Kindle and from the Overdrive app.   This program works a bit differently than Open Dyslexic or Helperbird in that it provides a color gradient to the words on the page.  This program does allow you to change the font to the Open Dyslexic font.  This video from BeeLine Reader provides a nice overview of how the program works:

Have you tried these tools before?  Can you think of some students to try this with?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Talk soon,

Cheryl

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