dyslexiaMicrosoft's free Immersive Reader has more than 15 million users. But it only works inside Word, Outlook, Teams, Forms, and Edge (Microsoft Support and Microsoft Research, checked August 2026). Open Slack, a supplier's web portal, or a job board in Chrome, and it disappears. Three browser extensions close that gap instead, for a fraction of what workplace software normally costs.
Helperbird: the free tier does most of the job
Helperbird installs in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. It works right away, with no sign-up needed (helperbird.com, checked September 2026). The free tier already includes dyslexia-friendly fonts, colour overlays, and a distraction-free reading mode. You also get a reading ruler, a magnifier, and basic text-to-speech.
It also comes with a built-in PDF reader and a translate tool. That means no separate app for a scanned invoice or a foreign-language email. None of this needs a card number or a trial that expires.
Helperbird also has apps for iPad and iPhone. The same fonts and reading mode follow you off your laptop (Apple App Store listing, checked September 2026). That is useful if you read policy documents or contracts on your phone during a commute.
The price of Helperbird Pro. It adds 14 natural voices, OCR for scanned documents, and cross-device sync (helperbird.com/pricing, checked September 2026).
A recruiter emails you a scanned PDF with no accessible text layer. Helperbird's free tier cannot read that aloud. Pro's OCR turns the scan into text first, then reads it out loud.
Most dyslexic employees will not need Pro from day one. The free tier already matches Immersive Reader for reading and text-to-speech. The difference is it works on every website, not just four Microsoft apps.
If cost is the only thing stopping you trying a reading extension, install Helperbird's free tier today. Upgrade to Pro only once you hit a specific wall, like a scanned PDF that needs OCR.
Nook: built for the document you keep putting off
Nook gives you a 7-day free trial, no credit card needed. After that it costs $5 a month or $39 a year. That is the current price on the Chrome Web Store, checked 3 September 2026. It works on top of whatever you already have open. That includes an inbox, a shared doc, a forum thread, a PDF, or an EPUB file.
Its core tools are autopace, bionic text, and chunking. Autopace guides your eyes line by line. Bionic text bolds the start of each word, and chunking breaks long paragraphs into a few lines at a time.
It also reads pages aloud in a natural voice, across 39 languages. It can summarise a long page before you commit to reading all of it.
Nook only sends your page text to its servers when you save, summarise, or listen to it. That is according to Nook's own privacy policy (getnook.net, checked September 2026). Everyday browsing is not tracked or uploaded. That matters if your employer has strict rules about private files leaving your laptop.
Re-reading the same paragraph three times, then giving up on it, happens to a lot of dyslexic readers. A wall of unbroken text causes it, not a lack of focus. Nook is built to interrupt exactly that.
Re-reading long documents costs you time you don't get back. That unpaid work adds up across a year. The masking cost calculator puts a number on it. Enter your salary and your workarounds, and it shows what that habit costs you every year.
If long reports and contracts wear you out more than short emails do, Nook's $39 a year is a small price. It is cheap next to the hours it can save. Try the 7-day trial on the next long document that lands in your inbox.
Read&Write: the one your employer should be buying
An individual annual licence for Read&Write costs £140, through the UK retailer dyslexic.com, checked September 2026. That is more than three times Nook's yearly price. It is also built for a different job: dictation and word prediction sit alongside the reading support.
Everway, the company behind Read&Write, was formerly called Texthelp. It does not publish a price for its workplace edition, Read&Write for Work. It sells that version to employers directly, seat by seat, not to people buying their own copy.
Everway also offers a "Family Access" version of Read&Write. It is only available to employees whose employer already buys its most expensive tier (Everway, checked September 2026). You cannot get it for free just by asking. If your employer has a smaller contract, Family Access can sometimes be added by asking Everway directly.
In the UK, you should not need to find £140 yourself. The Access to Work Tech Fund pays 100% of the cost. Your employer pays nothing towards it, if you are within six weeks of starting a role. Standard cost-sharing applies after that, up to a cap of £69,260 a year for 2026-27 (DWP Access to Work guidance, 2026).
US employees have nothing like Access to Work. No government fund pays the licence back directly. A reading tool like this still counts as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. It is reasonable to ask your employer to buy the seat, rather than paying for it yourself.
A real example
Buy Read&Write yourself, and you are down £140 a year, every year. Apply through the Tech Fund in your first six weeks in a new role. The same licence then costs you nothing. Check what you are likely to qualify for with the Access to Work calculator first.
If you are in the UK and thinking about Read&Write, do not buy it yourself. Ask your employer to apply through Access to Work first, since the fund exists to cover cases like this.
Managed work laptops can block browser extensions
Helperbird and Nook are Chrome, Firefox, or Edge extensions. Many company IT departments only allow extensions from an approved list. If your laptop is locked down, ask IT to add one before you rely on it for daily work.
Read&Write for Work sidesteps this problem. Everway sells and deploys it centrally through IT. Once your employer buys a licence, it appears on your laptop with no separate admin approval needed.
Neither Helperbird nor Nook needs an account tied to your work email. Try the free tier on a personal laptop first, to see whether it actually helps. Then ask IT to approve it before you need it on your work machine.
If your work laptop is locked down, test Helperbird or Nook on a personal device first. Then ask IT to approve whichever one helped.
Three questions before you pick one
Ask what is actually failing first. Is it any website, one specific kind of long document, or a mix of reading and writing? That answer points toward Helperbird, Nook, or Read&Write faster than any feature list.
Ask who is paying next. If it is your own card, Helperbird's free tier or Nook's $39 a year keeps the cost low. If your employer or Access to Work can pay instead, Read&Write's extra features become worth requesting.
Ask what your laptop allows last. A locked-down work laptop matters more than price. IT approval decides whether you can use a tool at all, regardless of cost.
Answer those three questions before you install anything, and the right tool usually picks itself.
Which one to actually install
| Tool | Free tier | Paid price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helperbird | Fonts, reading mode, ruler, magnifier, basic text-to-speech | $30/year (Pro) | Everyday reading on any site |
| Nook | 7-day trial only | $5/month or $39/year | Long reports and contracts |
| Read&Write | None for individuals | £140/year, or employer-funded via Access to Work | Dictation and word prediction alongside reading |
Pick based on what is actually failing, not on which tool lists the most features. If reading random websites is the daily friction, Helperbird's free tier solves that today, for nothing. If long documents are what you keep avoiding, try Nook's free trial. Use it on the next report that lands in your inbox.
Helperbird and Nook read and simplify text. You still need a separate tool, like Grammarly or Microsoft Editor, for spelling and grammar checks. Read&Write is the exception. Its word prediction and dictation cover writing too, which is part of why it costs more.
Asking your employer to fund a reading tool is a reasonable adjustment request, not a favour. The reasonable adjustments builder turns that ask into a short conversation plan and a draft email. It takes about two minutes.
For more paid text-to-speech tools, see the best text-to-speech tools for dyslexia guide.
Whichever tool you choose, install a free trial before your next long document. Not after you have already struggled through it.
Not sure where to start? The dyslexia assessment cost guide covers UK and US prices in 2026. Fill in the short form on that page and we will find you a local assessor and reply within 2 working days.