Reading studio: make any text easier to read

How to use it

1. On 1. Text, paste or type your text, open a plain text file from your device, or load a short sample. Nothing is uploaded. Tick Remember my text on this device only if you want it kept for next time.
2. On 2. Look, change the font, size, spacing, line width and colors. Change one thing at a time and watch the preview. The tool shows the contrast ratio of your colors.
3. On 3. Read, choose whole text, one paragraph at a time, or one sentence at a time. Turn on the reading ruler to fade everything except the line you are on. Use Read aloud to hear one sentence at a time, or print the text the way you set it up.

Good to know

• There is no single best setting. People differ, and what helps one person can get in the way for another. Change one thing at a time and keep what feels easier.
• The tool only changes how text looks on this page. It does not fix reading difficulties and it does not diagnose anything. If reading is very hard or tiring, a teacher, a reading specialist or an eye care professional can help.
• Spacing: a 2012 study of 94 children with dyslexia aged 8 to 14 (Italian and French speakers) found that extra-wide spacing helped them read faster and with fewer errors. A later study of 128 Italian-speaking children, half of them with dyslexia, found no general benefit from extra spacing, and extra letter spacing without extra word spacing slowed reading a little. So the evidence is mixed.
• Special dyslexia fonts: a small study of 12 children with dyslexia found no evidence that the OpenDyslexic font improved reading speed or accuracy compared with Arial or Times New Roman. That is why this tool uses fonts that are already on your device.
• Colors: the British Dyslexia Association guide for employers says cream or pastel paper can improve accessibility for people who experience visual disturbance when reading, and says the evidence on colored overlays and lenses is mixed. A joint statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups says scientific evidence does not support special tinted filters or lenses for dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Colors on a screen are a personal choice, not a treatment. Try them and keep what feels easier.
• The same statement says vision problems do not cause dyslexia, but they can interfere with learning. If your eyes ache or the text blurs, an eye exam is a sensible step.
• Sentences are found with simple rules, so the result is approximate. An abbreviation, an initial or unusual punctuation can sometimes be split in the wrong place. Blank lines start a new paragraph.
• Read aloud uses the voice and speed set in the Listen controls on this page. How it sounds depends on the voices on your device.
• The reading ruler follows your pointer or finger. With a keyboard, focus the reading area and use the Up and Down arrow keys to move it one line.

Where this comes from

• The British Dyslexia Association guide for employers recommends a clear sans serif font of at least 12 point for handouts, avoiding italics, and says handouts on cream or pastel paper can improve accessibility for people who experience visual disturbance when reading. It notes a mixed body of evidence for colored overlays and lenses: British Dyslexia Association: Dyslexia Friendly Workplaces, a guide for employers
• Zorzi and colleagues studied 94 children with dyslexia aged 8 to 14 and found that wider spacing between letters helped them read about 20 percent faster with about half as many errors. This is the press release about the study: ScienceDaily: Wider letter spacing helps dyslexic children read
• The full reference for that study, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012, volume 109, pages 11455 to 11459: University of Padova: Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexia
• A later study of 128 Italian-speaking children found no general speed or accuracy benefit from increased spacing, and no effect of a dyslexia-friendly letterform: Galliussi and colleagues, Annals of Dyslexia, 2020
• A study of 12 children with dyslexia found no evidence that the OpenDyslexic font improved reading speed or accuracy compared with Arial and Times New Roman: Wery and Diliberto, Annals of Dyslexia, 2017
• A joint statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups says scientific evidence does not support special tinted filters or lenses, and that vision problems do not cause dyslexia: Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Vision (joint statement, 2009), on Reading Rockets
• The dyslexia guide
• The ADHD guide
• The developmental language disorder guide

More tools

General support only. These tools are not medical, legal or diagnostic advice, and they do not replace professional help. If you are in crisis, go to Crisis help.