The default browsing experience offered by modern browsers isn't for everyone. Bright, cluttered screens with unnecessary images and adverts can make web content unreadable for many people. Happily, for many websites (sadly, it does still depend on whether the website in question has been created to internationally agreed accessibility standards), you can customise the look and feel with a couple of mouse clicks in modern browsers.
Microsoft Edge comes with a couple of powerful tools that can turn your browser into a screen reader, strip visually cluttered webpages back to easy to read text with your preferred font and colour scheme, and will even use its built-in Copilot AI to translate, summarise, or simplify webpages on demand.
On your own computer, you can install free third party browser extensions from the Microsoft Store or Chrome Store for Edge and Chrome, respectively, that will strip out visual clutter, read pages to you, display a navigatable page structure or offer highly focused speed reading support.
Whether you learn best by reading and listening at the same time, need a single point of focus to take information in at speed, or simply want to control the way pages are presented, these extensions are for you.
Changing the look and feel of webpages using Edge
Immersive Reader
Ditch all visual clutter and change the main text of webpages in your preferred font and colour scheme.
Immersive reader can also:
- read the text on the page to you
- translate text
- use Copilot (Microsoft's AI) to summarise or simplify ("explain") page content.
Using Immersive Reader
Click the ... ("More actions") button in the web address bar at the top of the screen.
Dark Mode
If you find the white background on webpages too bright, you might be a fan of Dark Mode. Again, rarely, you might come across websites whose creators have specified the colour scheme for their webpages in ways that stop Dark Mode from working. In these cases, try changing the colour sheme using the Immersive Reader instead (see above).
At the top of the screen, choose … (More actions) then Settings.
Choose Appearance from the left side menu.
Set Overall appearance to Dark.
You can find more accessibility features in M365 and Edge features described on MyPort.
Additional Edge extensions
On your own computer (sadly the University has blocked anyone from adding extensions on University computers for security reasons), you can also add extensions that make reading websites that much easier:
SwiftRead - An innovative way to read at speed, SwiftRead hides all the text on the page then shows you 1-3 words at a time centred on the page at a rate you choose. This helps most people read much faster, and can really help people with dyslexia who might otherwise struggle to read from a screen. It is also helpful for anyone with a limited field of vision or restricted eye movement.
Headings Map - Useful for anyone faced with a long but structured web page, it shows the content of a webpage summarised as a condensed list of headings and subheadings, and allows you to jump to any section by clicking on its heading.
Gold plating Chrome
If you prefer the Google Chrome browser, there are a host of Chromse extensions that do all the same things:
Clearly - Chrome's equivalent of the Edge browser's Immersive Reader. Clearly removes distracting sidebars and most images, including advertisements, leaving only a simple column of text that is easier to read and free from distractions. On many websites, this change can be a relief for anyone.
High contrast - Offering higher contrast display options in a variety of colours, including a dark mode featuring light text on dark backgrounds since long before it was popular.
Select and speak - Converts text to speech, so you can listen to website text from your browser.
HeadingsMap - Useful for anyone faced with a long but structured web page, it shows the content of a webpage summarised as a condensed list of headings and subheadings, and allows you to jump to any section by clicking on its heading.
SwiftRead - An innovative way to speed read, SwiftRead (formerly Spreed) hides all the text on the page then shows you 1-3 words at a time centred on the page at a rate you choose. This helps most people read much faster, and can really help people with dyslexia who might otherwise struggle to read from a screen. It is also useful for anyone with a limited field of vision.
Any questions?
While Library staff are always happy to help, for once, this might be something you are better off asking the IT Helpers in the Library or if you are learning at a distance, you can chat to or call the IS Service Desk.