Bionic Reading Text Generator
Emphasize the opening portion of each word for reading experiments. Your work stays on this device whenever possible.
How to use Bionic Reading Text Generator
- Paste your text into "Paste text for Bionic reading formatting"; an explanatory paragraph is preloaded.
- Drag "Fixation strength (%)" between 20 and 80; the default is 45.
- Set "Saccade threshold" to bold all words, or to skip words shorter than 2, 3 or 4 letters.
- Choose "Reading font" (System Sans-Serif, Dyslexia-Friendly, Georgia / Serif or Monospace), "Font size" and "Visual theme" (Light, Warm Sepia, Dark or Soft Muted Grey).
- Press "Generate bionic text", then use "Copy formatted (HTML)", "Copy Markdown", "Download HTML" or "Print reading view".
Worked example
Input "Reading is fun" with defaults (45%, bold all words). Copy Markdown gives "**Read**ing **i**s **fu**n", since ceil(0.45 x 7) = 4, ceil(0.45 x 2) = 1 and ceil(0.45 x 3) = 2. Changing Saccade threshold to "Skip words under 4 letters" gives "**Read**ing is fun".
When to use this tool
- Making a dense article easier to skim on a phone in sepia or dark theme.
- Printing a large-type reading sheet with OpenDyslexic where installed.
- Exporting formatted HTML for a handout or study guide.
Important limitations
Fixation formatting is a visual focus and reading accessibility aid; individual reading speed results vary. Does not alter sentence structure, grammar, or word content.
Frequently asked questions
How many letters of each word are bolded?
Word length times the fixation percentage, rounded up, with a minimum of one letter. A longer word never has every letter bold, so 45% of "reading" is ceil(3.15) = 4 letters.
Will the dyslexia-friendly font appear on my device?
The page asks for OpenDyslexic by name and falls back to Comic Sans MS or a system sans-serif. It does not bundle the font file, so it shows only where that font is installed.
What happens to contractions like don't?
The apostrophe splits the word into "don" and "t", so "don't" is formatted as **do**n'**t** with every-word bolding. A higher saccade threshold skips the lone "t".
Does this method make reading faster?
The page itself says results vary by reader. Treat it as a visual guide that some people find helpful, and do not expect a guaranteed speed gain.
Can the Markdown export clash with my text?
Yes. Bold is added as ** markers without escaping, so text that already contains asterisks or underscores may render oddly. Line breaks become <br> tags in the HTML version.