A Cleaner and Easier Online Reading Experience with Evernote Clearly and Safari Reader

Here's an interesting experiment to try:  Load just about any webpage you can think of, and count how many different articles, advertisements, animations, menus, lists, pictures, etc. are all calling out for your attention at the same time.  Even on the surprisingly uncluttered Google search page, I counted 17 different options I could click on!

With all those messages competing for your attention, the online reading experience can be difficult and bewildering for somebody with reading, visual perception, sensory perception, or attention deficit challenges.  Lucky for us, there are now tools available for three of the most popular web browsers to filter out all of the annoying clutter and let a reader focus on the main text on a web page.  Aside from making an online article easier to read and understand, it also makes it easier to copy and paste text into another online tool, such as a screen reader or text summarizer.

If you use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, you can download a  tool called Evernote Clearly.  It is available at http://evernote.com/clearly/ .  Evernote Clearly is a plug-in, which means that it simply adds a nifty little feature to your browser.  The good news about this is that you can install this feature yourself without having to call the IT department!!  For Firefox, simply go to the Evernote Clearly website, click the green "Get Clearly for Firefox" button, click the green "Add to Firefox" button, and then click the "Install now" button that will show up in the pop up window.  You will then be prompted to restart your browser to add the feature.  For Chrome, go to the Evernote Clearly website, click the "Get Clearly for Chrome" button, and click the "Add" button on the pop-up window.

Once you have Clearly installed, you will see a little reading lamp icon on your browser toolbar.  If you click that button, Clearly will cut out all of the unnecessary clutter on the webpage and just leave the main text.  WARNING: If you are on a page without an obvious main article, such as the msn.com or yahoo.com home pages, Clearly will have a hard time deciding what the main text is.  But once you click on an article and load that page, the feature will work quite nicely.  You can even highlight text, clip the text to Evernote, adjust the font size, and print the article. 

If you are a Mac or iPad user, then you are already familiar with Apple's Safari browser, because it is the default browser for these devices.  Safari is also available for PC's as a free download.  Safari has a similar "clear away all the unnecessary junk from a webpage" feature called Reader.  When you are on a page that is compatible with the reader function, a little grey Reader button will show up in the left hand side of the address bar at the top of the browser.  Here is a great article to explain more about the Safari Reader:

These tools are easy to set up and use, and I am excited to hear from teachers to see how their students enjoy using them in class and at home, so please spread the word!