One of my all-time favorite tools for reading digital content with low vision is a simplified reading display, which applies a consistent font size, font style, and background color to digital text. This makes it easier to read content without having to zoom in on a page, edit content, or enabling other accessibility settings, and makes it easy for users to simplify reading with technology. Here are my tips for using simplified reading displays with low vision, and a list of popular simplified reading tools that can be used for low vision.
Other names for simplified reading displays
Searching for a simplified reading display for low vision? It may be referred to by one of the following names:
- Reading view
- Distraction-free reading
- Reading tools
- Reader mode
- Simplify reader
- Reading mode
- Simplify text
Basic features for simplified reading displays
Almost all simplified reading displays offer the following options for customizing content for low vision and print disabilities:
- Adjust text size
- Change font style
- Increase text spacing
- Change background color
- Adjust margins
- Support for webpages, PDFs, EPUB, and other files that can be opened in a web browser
Simplified reading displays can be enabled within the web browser, as an add-in for another application, or accessed in a separate application/website.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Mainstream eReader Apps and Low Vision Accessibility
Microsoft: Immersive Reader
Immersive Reader is a built-in tool for several Microsoft applications, including the Edge web browser, Word, OneNote, Outlook, Office Lens, and others. Immersive Reader offers several customization options and features that go beyond the typical simplified reading display, including:
- Highlighting parts of speech
- Picture dictionary
- Separating syllables
- Options to highlight text and open the highlighted section in Immersive Reader
The exact location of Immersive Reader varies between applications, but the features are the same. While Immersive Reader will remember user settings within an application, it does not sync between applications- so if I change a setting in Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge, it won’t affect my settings in Outlook.
Immersive Reader can be accessed using the following methods:
- Pressing F9 in Microsoft Edge
- Selecting the Immersive Reader button in the address bar of Microsoft Edge
- Select the View tab in OneNote or Word, and choose Immersive Reader from the Learning Tools menu
- Select “Show Immersive Reader” in the options menu for Outlook
- When choosing export options in the Office Lens app, select the Immersive Reader option
Related links
- How I Use Microsoft Immersive Reader With Low Vision
My Talk At I’m Determined Summit: Crash Course In Immersive Reader - Designing Accessible Documents With Microsoft Word
- Reading Bookshare Titles With Microsoft Word
- Why Every Student Needs Microsoft Office Lens
Apple: Reading View
Reading View offers more minimalist features compared to other simplified reading displays, but is an amazing tool for the Safari web browser as it can simplify pages for an improved reading experience. Some unique features with Reading View include:
- Options to launch Reading View automatically for specific websites or blog posts/articles from websites
- Pinch-to-zoom gestures within Reading View for further magnifying text
To enable Reading View in Safari, select the Reading View icon in the address bar, which looks like a lowercase and uppercase A. Long-press on the icon to customize the font size, font, and background color.
Related links
Chrome: Reader Mode
Google Chrome has a few extensions for simplified reading displays, as well as a built-in Reader Mode that is accessed from the web browser. As of publishing time, Reader Mode does not work on Chrome’s mobile browser for Android- users will need to install the Reading Mode app if they want to use this feature.
To activate Reader Mode in Google Chrome:
- Before using Reader mode for the first time, copy and paste this link into Google Chrome to enable Reader Mode and select “Enable” from the drop down menu. chrome://flags/#read-anything
- To display a page with Reader Mode, open the three-dots menu (“Customize and Control Google Chrome”), and select the More Tools section, followed by Reader Mode. This will open the Reader Mode feature across all tabs as a split screen display mode. Reader Mode does not open a new tab, rather splits the view of the current tab.
- Display settings can be configured with the toolbar at the top of the Reader Mode window
- Once Reader Mode is open, I recommend right-clicking the book icon in the top-right corner of the page to pin Reading Mode to the toolbar for easier access.
As of publishing time, Reader Mode can be used with Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, Fuchsia, and Lacros. Languages supported include English, French, Italian and Spanish.
Note: Google Chrome browser extensions can also be enabled in the Microsoft Edge web browser.
Related links
Google Lookout
Lookout is a free Android application that offers a simplified reading display and text-to-speech capabilities for reading text, including documents and environmental text. Users can customize the text display with numerous options for font types, colors, line height, and more.
Related links
Snap&Read browser extension
Snap&Read is another simplified reading display for web browsers and comes highly recommended by the assistive technology specialists at my university- I personally have not used this extension very often. Snap&Read has several unique features for students, including:
- Options to translate text into 100+ languages
- Screenshot reader/reading text from an image with OCR technology
- Options to adjust the reading level for text
Users can test Snap&Read for free, and paid subscriptions are around $4 a month- I received a free account while taking undergraduate classes because I had a Disability Services file.
Related links
- Snap&Read Universal (snapandread.com)
- What To Know About College Assistive Technology Specialists
- How To Create A Disability Services File
Helperbird
Helperbird is another popular simplified reading display extension at my university, and has a Reader Mode option that functions in a similar way to a simplified reading display, as well as integration with Microsoft’s Immersive Reader- which means that users have two options for using a simplified reading display. I received a lifetime membership for free after attending an assistive technology conference, but Helperbird has free and paid plans available for various reading features.
Related links
- Your reading, writing & accessibility assistant – Helperbird
- How Amazon Alexa Can Help You Study For Exams
Envision AI
Envision is a free visual assistance app for Android and iOS devices that offers a simplified reading display for viewing scanned content or for uploading documents. Envision is known as Envision AI on the Apple/iOS app store, and I’ve written more about it in the post linked below.
Related links
Pocket reading app
I use Pocket to bookmark articles and display them for offline reading on my phone, tablet, computer, and other devices- articles are synced across all platforms. Users can add articles to their Pocket account by using a web browser extension, sharing a web page to Pocket on their mobile device, or copy/pasting links.
Related links
Teleprompter apps/displays
The teleprompter is the original simplified reading display, and works great for displaying text at very large sizes without having it get pixelated or blurry. I usually copy and paste text into a teleprompter app or website and then use the auto-scroll feature to read text as it is displayed on the screen. I found teleprompter apps especially helpful when working on school news, as I could display text on my iPad at a shorter distance.
Related links
More ideas for using simplified reading displays with low vision
- Looking for a way to simplify complex text? Consider using Rewordify, which can adjust text for different reading levels that is copy/pasted from the clipboard. Rewordify.com | Understand what you read
- Want to make it easier to scan in text or copy/paste it to another application? I love the Scanmarker Air as a low-cost scanning pen option. ScanMarker Air for Print Disabilities
- Simplified reading displays are different from web overlays, which change the appearance of a web page and are typically built into the site design. Simplified reading displays can be activated for reading articles or blog posts on almost any website
- Simplified reading displays have options for reading text out loud, but do not generally work with screen readers
