Glide — A Reading Aid for Those With Concentration and Perception Challenges
Luckily, I don't have a diagnosis of ADHD or dyslexia, although
anyone who spends much time online quickly becomes aware that those
challenges are common among people of all walks of life, including tech.
I'm old, so I lived a good thirty years before widespread Internet
access arrived in the 90s. In the olden times, I was a voracious reader
of books. Gradually through the years, my ability to concentrate eroded
bit by bit until, like most people these days, I rarely even read all
the way to the end of news articles unless I really force myself.
The developer from Applorium LTD contacted me and asked me to take a look at Glide, an app made especially for people with ADHD and dyslexia. The app has five different tools to isolate text on a page. You can choose one of six different colors to partially color the part of the screen that you are not reading. You control the opacity, and you decide how much of the page you want to highlight. You can narrow it down to just a thin line that moves down the page as you read of you can hide everything but what you are reading. It's harder to describe than it is to use. I got the hang of it in less than a minute.
Everything can be controlled from a menu bar icon or from user-defined hotkeys. There is a well-written guide to get you started, should you need it. It's not long or difficult to understand.
I've got to say, that using the app to read a detailed article on some complicated Linux related material really helped me concentrate in a way that I didn't expect. It has practically no impact on my computers' performance, so I will have no problem toggling it on whenever I have the need to make the extra effort to retain important info.
The app is currently $5.99 in the App Store.It appears that the developer is responsive to user input, as he has made numerous updates since first releasing the app. Almost every element in the interface, from color, to opacity to line height can be adjusted.
Even if you don't feel that you require this app, please suggest it to anyone in your circle with concentration or perception challenges.