5 ways to make online text more readable
Reading online is a far cry from reading a book, or even a newspaper, with the sidebars, navigation tools, and flashing ads that make up a good chunk of screen real estate. At best, these elements are irritants to the online reader. At worst, they can prevent struggling readers from comprehending online text. This is a problem in a time when accessing and understanding information from online sources is critical.
The good news is several tools are available to help cut the clutter and present the important parts of a web page in a clean, readable format. If you struggle reading online content, or teach someone who does, one of these tools may help. Included with each is a small screen capture of a more reader-friendly version of an article on this blog.
1. Safari 5′s Reader function
In addition to the super-useful Extensions feature introduced in Safari 5 last week, the new version of Apple’s web browser also includes a function called Reader. After a page loads, look for a button to the right of the web address of the page you want to read, labeled Reader. Click it to reveal a clean, navigation and ad-free version of the page. You can scroll through the material, zoom in or out, or e-mail the reading-friendly version to a friend or colleague. This version is also great for printing. Download Safari 5 for free from Apple.
2. Readability
Not a Safari user? Then check out Readability. Readability works in pretty much any modern browser and creates a bookmarklet, or web bookmark that links to extra functionality instead of a website. When you first visit Readability, you’ll be asked to make some settings for your preferred reading format–there are several combinations of layout styles, font size, and margin widths to choose from. Then, drag the bookmarklet to your your browser’s bookmarks bar (follow the instructions on the website if you’re not sure how to do this). Then, when you encounter a webpage you’d like to simplify, just click the new bookmarklet to streamline the content.
3. Instapaper
Instapaper’s customization settings aren’t quite as advanced as those of Readability, but it does add the ability to bookmark articles you run across online for later reading. It’s similar in that regard to online bookmarking tools like Delicious, but with the option to display the articles in reader-friendly formats. Like Readability, Instapaper adds a bookmarklet to your browser for easy access. You can also access your bookmarked articles from a mobile device in a nice, mobile-friendly format.
4. Print it (to PDF)
This one’s not guaranteed to work with every web page you encounter, but many sites provide a printer-friendly version of their content–either automatically or view a Print button on the page itself. These usually reformat content to be appropriate for a printed page as opposed to a web browser window. You can print the page to a PDF document or paper for better readability, but you may want to use your computer’s print preview function to make sure it’s going to look the way you expect.
5. Google Mobilizer
In a pinch, you can try Google Mobilizer–it’s not designed to make the web more readable necessarily, but it is designed to make pages load more quickly and be more navigable on mobile devices. Copy the web address of the page you want to streamline, then paste it into the form on Google Mobilizer to load a simplified version. Keep in mind that things are designed to look better on a small mobile screen than a larger desktop or laptop screen, so results may vary.
Related posts:
- Readability: Clear the clutter from web pages to make reading online easier
- 5 ways to make the most of your online communities
- 5 ways to make learning new technology easier and fun
- 3 ways to make your own homepage in practically no time at all
- Use Safari 5′s Reader to e-mail good-looking web content
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