BrightPage

by Fraser Fleming

BrightPage is an app developed for people with low vision to help when it comes to reading text. It is particularly useful for people with only peripheral vision. This could include conditions such as Macular Degeneration. Unfortunately the App is not designed to be helpful for people with no vision. BrightPage is available on iOS Devices and Android and can also be accessed on the web with any device with a web browser. This app is free to use.

To use the app you open the app then select the PDF that you want to read. You can also copy and paste text to the app too. The app will then use a fancy and very functional algorithm to read the text or PDF. Once it has done this it will display a large banner at the top of the screen with the text in it. You can customise the size and font of this text to suit your visual needs. The text will then scroll from right to the left of the screen. Now you can also adjust the speed of the text and if it displays only a single word or a continues stream of text. When you have finished reading the PDF or text you can simple go back to the main menu or close the app. The app has another great feature that will store you recently viewed documents so that you can view them across different devices.

I found Bright Page to be a very useful app for what it is designed to do. It takes text from either a PDF or other text field and adjusts the way you see it to help. It is a bit like using the eccentric reading skill that some visually impaired people learn to read text. I found the app very easy to work with from a low vision point of view. However, as my eye condition only affords me a small bit of central vision in one eye I did not receive the full benefit from the app. The only negative thought I have on the app is that it does not work very well if you are using voiceover. However, the app is designed for low vision users and not totally blind users. I know the app is still an early stages of development and I am looking forward to witness how the app develops.

I would give the BrightPage app 4 of of 5 TOP TECH TICKS.

Download the app here.