Read Aloud — Dyslexia Font, Bionic Reading & Reading Ruler for ADHD

About

Read Aloud reads any web page or PDF aloud with a natural voice, switches the page to a dyslexia-friendly font (OpenDyslexic, Lexend, Atkinson Hyperlegible), and applies bionic-style bold so your eyes glide through long text. Built for adults with dyslexia, ADHD and ESL readers — privacy-first, no account, open source.

★ READ ALOUD — TEXT TO SPEECH FOR THE WHOLE WEB
Highlight any paragraph, hit the hotkey, and Read Aloud reads it aloud with a natural-sounding voice. Works on articles, blog posts, Substack, Medium, news sites, documentation, Google Docs, Gmail and PDFs. Adjust speed, pitch and voice. Pause, resume, skip — controls live in the side panel and on a floating mini-player. Listen to articles while you walk, drive or rest your eyes.

★ DYSLEXIA-FRIENDLY FONTS, ON ANY SITE
Replace the page font with OpenDyslexic, Lexend or Atkinson Hyperlegible — three typefaces designed to reduce letter swaps and visual fatigue. Tune line spacing, letter spacing, paragraph width and background tint. Save your profile once; Read Aloud applies it the moment a page loads. A real dyslexia reader for the open web — not just a font swap, but a full reading layout.

★ BIONIC-STYLE READING — BOLD THE FIRST HALF
Toggle bionic-style text and the first part of every word becomes bold, guiding your eyes from word to word and lifting comprehension on long-form content. Great for ADHD readers, late-night research, or any time the page is just too dense. Combine bold-first-half mode with read-aloud playback to skim and listen at the same time.

★ FOCUS AID — READING RULER & LINE DIMMING
A reading ruler highlights the line under your cursor, and the line-focus mode dims everything outside a 1, 3 or 5-line window. Helps anyone whose eyes lose their place on dense pages.

★ PRIVACY-FIRST BY DESIGN
No account. No login wall. No tracking SDK. Settings stay on your device. Read Aloud asks for permission per site and never uses <all_urls>. Source code is open under the MIT license — audit it yourself, fork it, run it offline.

★ FAIR PRICING — FREE TIER, OPTIONAL PRO
The Web Speech voice, dyslexia fonts, bold-first-half mode and reading ruler are free forever. The optional Pro tier unlocks ElevenLabs natural voices — pay-as-you-go, no yearly subscription, cancel any time.

WHO IS READ ALOUD FOR?
• Adults with dyslexia who want a reader that respects their privacy
• Students and professionals with ADHD who need a focus-friendly reading mode
• ESL readers improving English comprehension
• People with eye fatigue, migraines or low vision
• Researchers, writers — anyone who reads long documents
• Audiobook lovers who want articles, blog posts and PDFs read aloud on the go

WHY READ ALOUD INSTEAD OF SPEECHIFY OR NATURALREADER?
Read Aloud was built as the open-source alternative to Speechify — same natural voice for read-aloud, without a yearly subscription, without forced sign-up, without telemetry. Pay only for the Pro features you actually use, or stay on the free tier forever.

WHAT'S INSIDE
• Natural voice text to speech (Web Speech + ElevenLabs)
• OpenDyslexic, Lexend, Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts
• Bold-first-half (bionic-style) reading mode
• Reading ruler and focus-line overlay
• PDF reading and clean reader mode
• Side panel UI with keyboard shortcuts
• Context-menu "Read selection aloud"
• Manifest V3, no <all_urls> permission
• MIT-licensed source on GitHub

GETTING STARTED
1. Install Read Aloud, open any article, select a paragraph (or skip selection to read the whole page).
2. Press Alt+R, or right-click → "Read selection aloud".
3. Open the side panel to switch font, toggle bold-first-half mode or change voice.

Feature request or bug? Open an issue on GitHub.

Read Aloud. A read-aloud reader that respects your eyes, your time and your privacy.

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DISCLAIMER: Read Aloud is independently developed and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Bionic Reading AG, Speechify Inc., NaturalReader, or any other company mentioned. All product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners and are used for descriptive and comparative purposes only. The bionic-style mode in Read Aloud is an independent implementation of bold-first-half text rendering.