Making reading on screen more inclusive and accessible
Team Leader
Nick Lum
A simple way to make reading on screen more inclusive and accessible
Solution Pitch
The Problem
Literacy experts estimate that 800 million people around the world are functionally illiterate. Many millions of these people are affected by disabilities like dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, or vision impairment, which together affect over 25 percent of the population.
Reading ability is critically important in today's digital economy. In decades and centuries past, there were many jobs that didn't involve reading at all, and many of those born with neurodiversities were able to work in jobs where reading ability was not a factor.
But in the digital economy, many more jobs—including all of the highest-paid jobs—require the ability to read fluently. In order for all people to thrive in the digital economy, there needs to be a solution that ensures neurodiversity and reading-related disabilities are not impediments to success.
The Solution
BeeLine Reader developed a new way to display text that makes reading on screen more efficient and more accessible, with technology that is simple, intuitive, and easy for anyone to use. Instead of displaying text in black, BeeLine Reader uses a subtle color gradient, which helps pull the reader's eyes through the text. The color gradient wraps from the end of one line to the beginning of the next, improving visual tracking and making the reading process easier for people of all reading abilities.
The technology can be implemented on any type of device, from feature phones to fully-loaded desktops, and can be implemented using widely-compatible technologies such as javascript, which allows us to support web browsers as far back as Internet Explorer. BeeLine Reader also works with PDF documents and ebooks so that our users can use our technology to read almost anything.
Stats
BeeLine Reader has helped 75,000 people with disabilities improve their reading proficiency.
Market Opportunity
For educational and accessibility purposes, companies, schools, and governments are spending over $100 million annually to create and operate platforms and tools that can improve the accessibility for neurodiverse and vision-impaired people. BeeLine Reader is able to provide a significantly more effective solution, at a much lower cost than legacy tools.
Organization Highlights
Partnered with Blackboard Inc., which has adopted BeeLine into their accessibility suite, Blackboard Ally.
Platform adopted by Bookshare, Reading Is Fundamental, Libretexts, among other education platforms.
Partnership Goals
BeeLine Reader seeks:
Connections with education, digital media and digital publishing companies for opportunities to collaborate and increase platform accessibility and platform stickiness in those markets
Connections with experts who are experienced with technology licensing, scaling for impact, and B2B licensing business models
What is the name of your organization?
BeeLine Reader
What is the name of your solution?
BeeLine Reader
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
A simple way to make reading on screen more inclusive and accessible
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Menlo Park, CA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
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What type of organization is your solution team?
For-Profit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
Literacy experts estimate that 800 million people around the world are functionally illiterate. Many millions of these people are affected by disabilities like dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, or vision impairment, which together affect over 25 percent of the population.
What is your solution?
BeeLine Reader developed a new way to display text that makes reading on screen more efficient and more accessible, with technology that is simple, intuitive, and easy for anyone to use. Instead of displaying text in black, BeeLine Reader uses a subtle color gradient, which helps pull the reader's eyes through the text. The color gradient wraps from the end of one line to the beginning of the next, improving visual tracking and making the reading process easier for people of all reading abilities. The technology can be implemented on any type of device, from feature phones to fully-loaded desktops, and can be implemented using widely-compatible technologies such as javascript, which allows us to support web browsers as far back as Internet Explorer. BeeLine Reader also works with PDF documents and ebooks so that our users can use our technology to read almost anything.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Although our technology is used by even highly skilled readers (we have a site license with Stanford, among other elite schools), the most important user base for BeeLine Reader is people with reading-related disabilities.
Even in the disability world, this group is often overlooked because of their "invisible disability." Most of these individuals have one or more of: dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and vision impairments.
We correspond daily with people in these communities to ensure that we understand their challenges, listen to their feedback, and consider the ways that we can better serve them. We also work with parents of students with disabilities, special education teachers, medical doctors, optometrists, and other experts who can help us as we serve these communities.
Thanks to input from these communities we have introduced new features, simplified our onboarding process, and learned of new communities (e.g., survivors of traumatic brain injuries, who often have visual tracking issues when reading).
Our technology offers transformative benefits for people in these communities. Many of these people have struggled to read for years or even decades. Our simple tweak allows them to read like never before, and with zero learning curve.
