An accessible reading mask with mobile grip controls, onboarding, domain rules, and a simplified reader.
Users
7
0 in 30 days
Rating
5.0 / 5
unchanged in 30 days
Ratings
1
0 in 30 days
Store rank
#217K
#181K among extensions
Version
1.5.0.1
updated 14 Aug 2026
Users
monthly, 3 months
Latest, 15 Oct 2026:7 usersMove the mouse over the chart for any month
Ratings count
monthly, 3 months
Latest, 15 Oct 2026:1 ratingsMove the mouse over the chart for any month
The Chrome Web Store rounds user counts down to the leading digit, so the user line moves in steps. The ratings count is exact and is the better signal of real adoption.
About Aar318's Reading Mask Highlight
**📖 Aar318's Reading Mask Highlight: Focused, Accessible Reading**
Keep your eyes anchored to one line at a time. Reading Mask Highlight adds a movable accessibility overlay to webpages, leaving a clear horizontal reading band between two colored guide lines while dimming the rest of the page. An optional local Simplified Reader can also turn compatible articles into a distraction-reduced reading view.
**🚀 Getting Started**
1. Install the extension and pin it from Chrome's Extensions menu for easy access.
2. Click the toolbar icon or press **Alt+Shift+M** to turn the reading mask on for the current tab.
3. Move your pointer vertically on desktop, or drag anywhere inside the clear reading band on a touch device, to position it.
4. Right-click the toolbar icon—or right-click/long-press the injected page control—to open settings, accessibility presets, and reading-session tools.
5. Press **Escape** whenever you want to turn an active mask off.
**✨ New Features (v1.5.0.1)**
- **Kinetic Pause Persistence:** Closing Simplified Reader no longer restarts a guide that the user paused.
- **True Live Toolbar Menus:** The extension-icon menu now reads the active tab's current Reading Mask state directly, keeping mask status, injected-control visibility, domain access, opacity, and band size accurate.
- **Immediate Menu Refresh:** Appearance, visibility, and domain changes update their right-click menu states without requiring a reload.
- **Consistent Support Menu:** Ko-fi and Donate now appear together in the first native menu section above a separator and the Reading Mask actions.
**⭐ Key Features**
- **Per-Tab Reading Mask:** Toggle the mask independently for each tab using the toolbar icon or **Alt+Shift+M**; the toolbar badge shows when it is active.
- **Clear Reading Band:** Focus on a single horizontal region while customizable upper and lower masks dim surrounding page content.
- **Accessibility Presets:** Apply coordinated dyslexia-friendly typography, spacing, high contrast, warm or cool tint, and reduced-motion settings to Simplified Reader.
- **Reading Session Tools:** Use an optional timer, break reminders, progress marker, resume position, and one-click session restart.
- **Pointer, Touch, and Keyboard Control:** Follow the pointer on desktop, drag the clear band on mobile, optionally switch to a dedicated grip-only mode, or adjust position with Arrow, Page Up/Down, Home, and End keys.
- **Simplified Reader:** Open a private text-focused version of compatible article content while retaining reading-mask, preset, progress, and resume support.
- **Complete Appearance Controls:** Adjust band height, guide thickness and colors, mask color and darkness, page-control position, visibility, and fade timing.
- **Responsive Mobile Design:** Includes full-band dragging by default, optional grip-only control, larger touch targets, safe-area and orientation handling, native page scrolling, and layouts sized for smaller screens.
- **Injected Page Control:** Toggle the mask directly from the webpage and open the complete settings panel with a right-click or touch long-press.
- **Toolbar Shortcuts:** Access mask controls, settings, presets, domain management, appearance reset, and support links from the extension-icon menu.
- **Domain Rules:** Run everywhere except a blocklist or only on an allowlist, with automatic subdomain matching and current-site controls.
- **Optional Page Control:** Hide the injected control globally or on selected domains while continuing to use the toolbar and keyboard shortcut.
- **Accessibility Features:** Provides visible focus states, keyboard-operable controls, descriptive labels, tooltips, isolated styling, and automatic print hiding.
- **Quick Mask Presets:** Apply Compact, Standard, or Large reading bands and Light, Standard, or Dark mask styles.
- **Start-Enabled Option:** Automatically activate the mask after supported page navigation when desired.
- **Dynamic-Page Recovery:** Reattaches the overlay after client-rendered sites rebuild content while reducing checks in hidden tabs.
**🔐 Permissions & Privacy**
- **Storage:** Saves appearance, behavior, accessibility presets, reader-session preferences, domain rules, onboarding state, and other settings locally in the browser.
- **Context Menus:** Provides right-click toolbar shortcuts for toggling, settings, presets, domain controls, and support actions.
- **Site Access:** Runs the reading overlay on webpages so it can dim page regions, follow pointer/touch movement, apply domain rules, and create Simplified Reader locally when requested.
- **Privacy:** Settings, progress, resume positions, and page content remain on your device. The extension contains no analytics, tracking, accounts, remote code, advertising, or background network requests.
**ℹ️ Notes**
- Simplified Reader appears only when the current page contains suitable article-style content.
- Browser-protected pages and extension-store pages do not allow normal extension content-script access.
- All reading-mask and extension controls are automatically hidden when printing.
- Support: https://ko-fi.com/M4M81VBQPJ
- Donate: https://streamelements.com/hor318/tip
Growth
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7 days
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30 days
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Chrome Web Store search rankings
Where Aar318's Reading Mask Highlight appears when people search the store, with the 30 day change