How it compares
Schools choosing assistive reading software face a longer list of questions than the marketing usually answers. Here's a practical checklist of what to evaluate, and where Readable for Chrome stands on each.
What to look for in any assistive reading tool.
Use this checklist with whatever tools you're evaluating — including ours. Strong answers across the board matter more than any single headline feature.
1. Where does the work happen?
Reading-support tools handle a lot of student-generated content — selected text, photographed pages, words being typed. Where that content goes matters for FERPA, COPPA and GDPR.
| Ask the vendor | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Does text-to-speech send the text to a server? | No. TTS uses the device's built-in voices. |
| Does OCR send images to a server? | No. OCR runs on-device in a WebAssembly worker. |
| Does predictive typing send keystrokes to a server? | No. Predictions run from a local 20,000-word table. |
| Are documents/PDFs uploaded for processing? | No. The PDF viewer renders directly in the browser. |
| What happens to user settings? | Stored in chrome.storage.sync, encrypted by Chrome, synced via the student's own Google account. No third-party sync. |
| Are there any outbound network calls at all? | One — the dictionary lookup, which is optional and admin-disablable. |
2. How does it deploy across a fleet?
The difference between a tool a SENCo champions and one IT actually deploys often comes down to managed-deployment fit.
| Ask the vendor | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Can it be force-installed via Google Admin Console? | Yes — through Apps & Extensions, optionally pinned to the toolbar. |
| Can settings be pre-configured before the student logs in? | Yes — every setting is exposed to Chrome's managed-policy schema. |
| Can settings be locked so students can't change them? | Yes — locked settings show a 🔒 icon and are read-only for the student. |
| Can policies vary by year group or school? | Yes — full per-OU scoping is supported. |
| Can specific extension versions be pinned? | Yes — via Apps & Extensions → Updates in Admin Console. |
| Is per-student licensing or per-student login required? | No. Site-wide deployment with no per-seat creep. |
3. How wide is the accessibility coverage?
Some students need text-to-speech. Some need colour overlays. Some need both, plus dyslexia fonts, plus a tracking ruler, plus OCR for scanned worksheets. A tool that does only one thing means deploying — and supporting — multiple tools.
| Need | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Text-to-speech with hover, selection, and document-level reading | Yes |
| Adjustable rate, pitch, volume; silent-mode toggle | Yes |
| Word-by-word visual tracking during speech | Yes — adjustable colour and thickness |
| Full-screen colour tint with picker and opacity | Yes |
| Reading ruler with cursor tracking | Yes |
| Dim band for narrowing focus to current line | Yes |
| Forced high-contrast mode | Yes |
| Dyslexia-friendly fonts (OpenDyslexic, Atkinson Hyperlegible) | Yes (admin-installable on managed Chromebooks) |
| Letter / word / line / paragraph spacing override | Yes — independently adjustable |
| Predictive typing in any web text field | Yes — including Google Docs, Forms, Gmail |
| Symbol-supported predictions for emerging readers | Yes — via deployable symbol bundle |
| OCR for pictures of text | Yes — six languages built in, more available |
| Word-level dictionary lookup | Yes — phonetic pronunciation, definitions, read-aloud |
| Ambient background sound for focus | Yes — 16 bundled tracks |
4. Does it work where students actually work?
Tools that work brilliantly on a generic web page but fall over on Google Docs aren't classroom-ready.
| Surface | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Standard web pages | Yes — every accessibility feature available |
| Google Docs (canvas-rendered text) | Yes — via annotated-canvas accessibility tree plus copy bridge |
| Google Slides | Yes — same approach as Docs |
| Google Forms (questions and long-answer fields) | Yes — including predictive typing inside answer fields |
| Google Classroom (assignments, announcements, materials) | Yes — read whole item with one shortcut |
| Gmail messages | Yes — read open message with one shortcut |
| Drive previews, Meet captions, Keep, Sites | Yes — hover and selection both work |
| PDFs | Yes — built-in viewer based on Mozilla pdf.js |
Chrome's own pages (chrome://, Web Store) | No — Chrome restricts all extensions on those pages |
5. Will it work when the network is poor?
Classroom networks are sometimes slow, sometimes locked down, sometimes both. A tool that fails on patchy wifi is a tool that students stop trusting.
| What needs the network | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Text-to-speech | Local — works offline |
| OCR | Local — works offline |
| Predictive typing | Local — works offline |
| PDF viewer | Local — works offline (PDFs themselves still need to be reachable) |
| Ambient sounds | Bundled — works offline |
| Dictionary | Online — optional and admin-disablable |
| Settings sync | Online — Chrome's encrypted sync |
6. Will the vendor still be there in two years?
Schools commit to deployment plans, training, and lesson-design assumptions around the tools they pick. Vendor longevity matters.
| What to ask | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Vendor track record in this space | Sensory App House has built accessible reading software for over a decade — Sensory Readable for Windows, Sensory PDF, Readable Toolbar for Mac, Readable Notes. |
| Existing school deployments | Across the UK, US and Australia. |
| Update cadence | Auto-updating via Chrome Web Store; admins can pin specific versions for stability. |
| Support channel | Direct email support to a UK-based team. Help guide bundled with the extension; online version maintained. |
7. What does it actually cost?
Per-student pricing, per-feature tiering, "request a quote" walls — schools waste a lot of time discovering the real number. Worth asking up front.
| What to ask | Readable for Chrome |
|---|---|
| Per-student or site-wide pricing? | Site-wide school licences — competitively priced, scaling with fleet size. |
| Are some features only on higher tiers? | No. Every school gets every feature. |
| Is there a free tier or trial? | Free install from the Chrome Web Store for individual users; managed-deployment evaluations available on request. |
| What's included in the licence? | Full extension, all features, software updates, email support. |
The questions worth asking, and our answers.
Privacy-first by design. Built for managed deployment. Wide accessibility coverage. Works where students actually work. Offline-capable. Backed by an established vendor. Priced for schools, not per-feature-tier.
Try it against your own checklist.
Install on a single Chromebook in minutes, or arrange a managed-deployment evaluation across an OU.