As a student with low vision that has taken over 60 online classes and hybrid classes since high school, I spend a lot of quality time using web browsers to access information, read articles and blog posts, conduct research for projects/classes, and find resources that I can read with large print. Since I primarily access information visually and also experience photophobia/photosensitivity, I have to be thoughtful about how I access information and use strategies like removing visual clutter or non-essential items, reducing the visual complexity of a page to focus on text and other essential content, blocking potentially flashing content, or enabling various web browser extensions for low vision access that help with reducing visual fatigue.
While no web browser extension or tool can completely eliminate visual fatigue or strategies for preventing/managing visual fatigue, I have found that display customizations, pages with large text/large icons and fewer options, and the use of filters has helped me avoid using my vision for unnecessary tasks or straining my eyes to read visually complex pages. Here is a list of my favorite web browser extensions for low vision that help with reducing visual fatigue, a must-have for students taking online classes that can easily be incorporated into Expanded Core Curriculum lessons (ECC) for compensatory skills. Many of these tips also support CVI accessibility and decreasing visual clutter/reducing visual complexity for websites, which is critical for students with CVI.
How to enable web browser extensions
To install a browser extension, start by opening the browser’s extension store (e.g. Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons, or Microsoft Edge Add-ons) and search for the desired extension. Select “Add to [Browser]” or the “Install” button on the extension’s page, then confirm any permissions it requests in the pop-up dialog. Once installed, the extension’s icon will appear in the browser’s toolbar, ready to use or customize immediately. Many of the web browser extensions listed in this post are available across multiple web browsers; it is worth noting that users can also install Chrome extensions on the Microsoft Edge web browser if desired.
Related links
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Computers
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Tablets
Simplified reading displays and reader modes
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. There are different simplified reading display options for various web browsers, though my most-used simplified reading display app is Immersive Reader.
Related links
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- How I Use Microsoft Immersive Reader With Low Vision
- Google Reader Mode and Low Vision
- Accessing Online Readings For College Classes
- Sora Accessibility Features For Low Vision (audiobooks and eBooks)
Text-only reading view: Textise
Textise is a free tool that can convert almost any webpage into a text-only viewing experience; no images, ads, scripts, or other distractions. Users can customize the font size, spacing, text/page color, and other visual details, as well as open hyperlinks in a text-only layout as well. Textise has been tremendously helpful when completing readings for my online classes, as this makes it easier to avoid flashing pop-ups, embedded video ads, or other distracting features. Users can access Textise by copy/pasting a URL directly on the Textise website or enabling the Textise web browser extension.
Related links
- Textise – Text-Only and Accessibility Tools
- Accessing The News With Assistive Technology
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Must-Have Tech Skills For Online Classes
Kagi Search (paid)
While Kagi Search is not specifically for accessibility, it has quickly become one of my favorite web browser extensions for low vision and reducing visual fatigue. Kagi is an ad-free search engine that offers extensive visual customizations for displaying search results, including options for adjusting font sizes/line spacing, displaying fewer results on a page, snippet lengths, display colors, and hiding AI-generated content like search summaries or AI images.
I started using Kagi after I noticed I was using a lot of my vision/energy to navigate cluttered search pages filled with low-quality GenAI results and being bombarded with images; it has been a fantastic tool for reducing visual fatigue and I have recommended it to many students with low vision and/or CVI. Kagi offers a 100-search free trial and monthly/annual subscriptions starting at $5 USD per month.
Related links
Digital bookmarking tools
Bookmarking tools save web content and other types of digital media for later reading, and apply custom font sizes/styles, spacing, and background colors to saved content for a consistent reading experience. Users can save content from online sources, upload their own content from a device or cloud storage, or utilize a mix of both methods to organize multimedia content and topics of interest using headings, tags, folders, and other organizational tools. Many tools also provide options for adding notes or applying visual formatting to text, which can aid in the notetaking process or when organizing content from multiple sources, as well as support for simplified reading displays or reading PDFs. Some examples of free tools I’ve written about on my website include Instapaper and Wakelet.
Related links
- Free Digital Bookmarking Tools For Low Vision
- Instapaper Accessibility For Visual Impairment
- Wakelet Accessibility Features For Low Vision
- Helpful Ways To Bookmark Websites For Low Vision Users
Adblock extensions, e.g. Adblock Plus
Ads aren’t just visual distractions— they can also be dangerous for people with conditions triggered by rapid animations, strobe lights, or flashing lights or contribute to cognitive fatigue associated with CVI. I enable Adblock extensions like Adblock Plus across all of my devices to reduce exposure to visual clutter and flashing lights, and enable built-in ad blockers on web browsers whenever available. Since I have no idea where flashing lights or animations might pop up, I am cautious about whitelisting websites or allowing “safe” ads and prefer to have ads turned off whenever possible.
Related links
- Avoiding Flashing Lights On Social Media
- Smartphone Accessibility Settings For Photosensitivity
- How To Improve Your Blog Theme For Visually Impaired Users
Grammar checkers for writing: Microsoft Editor and Harper
For users with low vision, spelling errors or grammar errors may be more difficult to catch when typing in small text fields online or when accessing webpages that have a lot of pictures or other visual content. Since I also have dysgraphia, I find it helpful to enable a grammar checker or spell checker as a web browser extension.
Microsoft Editor is a free web browser extension that can check for spelling and grammatical errors in writing, and tell users how to fix them. This is super helpful for online discussion board posts, as it can automatically detect when users make a spelling mistake or when something they are writing doesn’t make any sense— I recommend turning off Text Prediction so users are still composing all of their own content. Microsoft Editor requires a free Microsoft account and is available on Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, as well as built into select Microsoft applications like Word. From an accessibility standpoint, Microsoft Editor is more accessible for screen reader users compared to Grammarly.
For users that are looking for a privacy-forward option, I am a huge fan of the free Harper extension for Chrome and Firefox. Harper is a free English grammar checker that runs on a user’s device, so their content is not shared with large language models or generative AI tools. I have also used Harper in VSCode and Emacs, which is helpful for correcting errors when writing technical documentation.
Related links
- Microsoft Editor | Free Text Editor Software
- Harper | The Free Private Grammar Checker
- Free Accessible Coding Resources With Large Print Options
- Pre-Teaching Programming Languages To Visually Impaired Students
- How I Manage Dysgraphia In Online Classes
YouTube browser extensions for low vision
As someone with photosensitivity and photophobia (sensitive to flashing lights/bright lights), I am often very cautious when using YouTube since it is easy to encounter flashing lights in videos and ads, and the YouTube interface can be visually complex/overwhelming. Web browser extensions for YouTube and settings I enable for watching YouTube with low vision include:
Turn Off The Lights
Turn Off The Lights is a web browser extension that helps to reduce the clutter around videos on streaming websites such as YouTube and Vimeo by darkening the display so only the video is in focus. Turn Off The Lights is available for free download for many popular web browsers, including Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and more.
DeArrow
DeArrow is a web browser extension that crowdsources descriptive titles and thumbnails for YouTube videos, prioritizing accuracy and descriptive titles over sensationalism or clickbait content. This is helpful for reducing visual clutter from neon thumbnails, and users can also enable a casual mode to retain original video titles when available.
Clean YouTube extensions
Not to be confused with content filters that restrict specific types of YouTube videos, clean YouTube extensions can be used to customize the visual layout of the YouTube website and hide distracting content such as recommended videos, autoplay, home page/trending videos, and other items that can make it harder to focus on the video player. I am using a tool called Clean YouTube, but there are several other free extensions that offer similar features.
Free YouTube features in Brave web browser
Instead of using the YouTube app on my iPad, I use the Brave web browser to access YouTube as it is better at blocking visual clutter and flashing content. Within Brave, I can enable settings to block YouTube ads, block recommended content and distracting elements, block YouTube shorts, and several other features for reducing visual fatigue and visual clutter for free.
Related links
- Turn Off The Lights website
- DeArrow YouTube Browser Extension
- Clean YouTube | Block Unnecessary YouTube Features
- Brave YouTube ad blocker
- YouDescribe: Audio Description For YouTube
Website dark mode: Dark Reader
While many web browsers offer options for dark mode and high contrast color schemes, users may still find the provided color options to be too bright or too dark for their liking. Dark Reader is a free customizable dark mode extension that can be used to configure settings for individual websites, with the option to toggle between custom light mode, dark mode, and sepia displays. There is also an option to customize the display font used on a particular website, though I have not tested this feature personally. Dark Reader is available for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Firefox, and can also be enabled on mobile web browsers through the paid Dark Reader app.
Related links
- Dark Reader website
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
- Choosing Between Light Mode and Dark Mode For Low Vision
- How To Use High Contrast in Windows 11
- How I Optimize My Website For Cognitive Accessibility
Bonus: Cat-themed web browser extensions for reducing visual fatigue
Cat Gatekeeper visual timer for social media (including YouTube)
For users that need a reminder to take a break from scrolling social media websites, Cat Gatekeeper is a visual timer that will appear after a set amount of time and block the user’s screen until the set break time is over. While my real cat is great at jumping in my lap or onto my desk every 30 minutes or so, one of my students was extremely excited to use this extension as a reminder to take vision breaks from screens.
Comments to Cats
It’s easy to get distracted with reading the comments section of videos, news articles, or other online content; I try to be thoughtful about when/where I read comments on articles and try to hide them when screensharing. Extensions like Comments to Cats replace the comment section of supported webpages with a picture of a cat, and users can pause the extension to read comments on a specific website if desired.
Related links
- Cat Gatekeeper extension
- Comments to Cats
- Activity Ideas For Vision Breaks
- Make Online Learning Accessible For VI Students: Quick Start Guide
More of my favorite web browser extensions for low vision and reducing visual fatigue
- I have a few features enabled in my web browsers for online safety. Learn more in Typo Protection and Typosquatting: Online Safety Tips For Low Vision and Online Safety For Visually Impaired Users: Safer Internet Day
- Blue light filter extensions can be enabled in a web browser or on a user’s display to help with reducing eye strain from screens. Learn more in Ten Ways To Reduce Eye Strain From Screens With Technology
- When I encounter poor contrast images or websites online, one of my favorite strategies to use is invert colors, which I write about in How To Use Invert Colors With Low Vision
- Another helpful tool I use for accessing images online is alt text— learn more in How To Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the Visually Impaired and Purposes of Media Descriptions for Visual Impairment
Published March 30, 2020. Updated May 2026