It’s almost 2 years since I first wrote about Readability.  Since then, Readability has become one of my favorite learning supports.  Readability is an elegant online application for ‘decluttering’ and customizing web pages to meet the needs of the individual reader.

With the click of a button, Readability removes advertising, sidebars and other distracting clutter from webpages. Content is presented in a style chosen by the reader, with preferred font size, margin-width, and contrast. I’ve shared no other application with educators that has drawn more emphatic exclamations of amazement and appreciation.

Last week I was redirected to Readability’s new website.  Readability has incorporated two impressive new features–the option of saving modified web content to read later, and the opportunity to use readability on mobile devices.  For users who want to take advantage of the new features, Readability has moved to a subscription model, with a minimum monthly fee of $5.

[Readability will be paying 70% of revenue generated by its fees directly to the publishers and content creators of sites in a subscriber's reading list.   I'm not sure what to think of this, but it's an innovation that deserves further examination!]

At first glance, it looked as though the free application had been completely replaced by  the paid subscription service.  Some poking around, however, revealed that the original tool remains available without charge via a Firefox add-on. As well, the app can still be activated by bookmarklets in multiple browsers.

In actual fact, the free Readability tool has been refined and improved. The controls that adjust style, font size, margin width and contrast are now right on the modified page, and activated by slider bars.

The link to the Bookmarklet Page is found on Readability’s FAQ page.  The link to Readability’s Firefox add-on is at the very bottom of the new home page.

Readability – Enjoy Reading, Support Writing from Arc90 on Vimeo.