Not all web pages are created equally. Some provide information in a clear and concise manner. Others are cluttered including extensive text, numerous graphics that might or might not add to the understanding of the content, or advertisements that detract from the content. This can be frustrating for any user, but especially so to those who are working on limiting distractions, focusing on goals around decoding and comprehension of text, and people with certain visual impairments.

TextHelp’s Read&Write for Google Chrome extension is available to all LCPS staff and students and has a tool that can help alleviate these issues called Simplify Page. It reduces visual clutter from Chrome web pages, simplifies the text on the page, and has features to make the web page even more visually accessible.

When on a Chrome web page, select the purple puzzle piece icon on the menu bar to open the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar.

Then, select the Simplify Page tool. A new tab will open showing a simplified version of the page and the available features.

Simplify: The amount of text displayed on the page can be summarized or shortened by selecting the minus (–) icon. If you’ve decreased the text too much, you can select the plus (+) icon.

Discover: This feature underlines key words in purple. When the words are selected, a brief description or graphic appears, similar to a dictionary.

The visual contrast can be modified by changing the text and background color. Choices include Black on White, White on Black, Blue on Yellow, and Yellow on Blue.

The font size and style can be changed, including the Open Dyslexic font.

The spacing between the lines can be also changed to Single, 1.5, or Double.

Check out this video for more information and enjoy exploring this amazing tool!