AssisT

What is AssisT?

AssisT is a comprehensive Chrome extension that augments your learning abilities, not just assists them. We believe technology should superpower every learner—leveling the playing field so everyone can excel.

Whether you’re neurodivergent, neurotypical, a visual learner, an auditory learner, or just want to learn more efficiently, AssisT provides 35+ powerful features that work instantly, plus 8 AI-powered features when enabled—all running locally in your browser with no subscriptions or API keys required for core features.

Beyond Accessibility: Augmentative Technology

Accessibility tools help you cope. Augmentative tools help you excel.

AssisT represents a paradigm shift in educational technology:

• Not a crutch, but a superpower — Features like AI summarization, text-to-speech, and OCR don’t just make content “accessible,” they enhance how everyone learns
• Leveling the playing field — Everyone has different learning strengths. AssisT lets you leverage YOUR strengths instead of struggling with your weaknesses
• For all learners — Yes, AssisT was designed with neurodivergent students in mind, but neurotypical students benefit just as much. Speed readers use TTS. Honor students use AI summarization. Visual learners use highlighting. Everyone learns differently.

Think of AssisT as augmented learning — just as augmented reality enhances what you see, AssisT enhances how you learn, comprehend, and retain information.

Enable on All Websites

AssisT uses a privacy-first permission model. By default, the extension works immediately on educational platforms:

Platform	Domains
Canvas LMS	*.instructure.com, *.canvas.com
Moodle	*.moodle.org, *.moodlecloud.com
Google Classroom	classroom.google.com
Google Docs	docs.google.com

Want AssisT on Every Website?

You can enable AssisT on all websites with a single click. This is optional and only needs to be done once:

1. Click the AssisT extension icon in your browser toolbar
2. Look for the “Enable Everywhere” button in the popup
3. Chrome will show a permission dialog asking to “Access your data on all websites”
4. Click Allow to grant permission
5. Reload any open tabs you want to use AssisT on

That’s it! AssisT now works on every website you visit. You’re in control—you can revoke this permission anytime in Chrome’s extension settings.

Why does Chrome show this message? Chrome requires extensions to explicitly request permission before accessing websites. This protects your privacy by ensuring you consent to where extensions can run. AssisT never collects or transmits your data—everything runs locally.

Quick Start Presets

Get started instantly with pre-configured profiles optimized for specific needs:

• ADHD Focus: Pomodoro timer enabled, progress tracking, simplified interface
• Dyslexia Support: OpenDyslexic font, wide spacing, reading progress bar
• Sensory Sensitive: No animations, muted colors, media blocking

Key Features

Reading & Listening

Text-to-Speech with Synchronized Highlighting

Listen to any web content using your browser’s built-in voices. Words are highlighted as they’re read, helping you follow along. Customize speech rate (0.5x–2.0x), pitch, volume, and choose from 8 highlight colors.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+Space (play/pause), Ctrl+Shift+S (stop)

Reading Mode

Distraction-free view that removes navigation, sidebars, and ads. Powered by Mozilla Readability for clean content extraction. Full TTS integration included.

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+R (toggle), Escape (exit)

Dyslexia-Optimized Reading Modes

Three enhancement modes to improve reading comprehension:

• Bionic Reading: Bolds the first 1–3 letters of words to guide eye movement
• Syllable Colors: Alternating color backgrounds break words into visual chunks
• Grammar Colors: NLP-based coloring of parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives)

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Y (toggle)

OCR & Screenshot Tool

Capture and extract text from images, PDFs, and scanned documents. Uses Tesseract.js for offline processing with support for 100+ languages. Adjustable upscaling and confidence thresholds.

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+O (capture)

Writing & Voice Input

Speech-to-Text

Dictate text directly into any input field using the Web Speech API. Features include:

• 50+ voice commands for editing, formatting, and navigation
• Smart auto-punctuation with three modes: Automatic, Assisted, and Manual
• Confidence feedback with color-coded accuracy indicators
• Custom vocabulary with domain presets for Medical, Legal, Academic, and STEM

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+P (switch STT profile)

Sticky Notes & Annotations

Create floating notes on any webpage. Tag and categorize notes, export them, and view all annotations in a dedicated panel.

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+N (create note)

Study & Research Tools

Dictionary Lookup

Instant definitions for selected words with example sentences and part-of-speech information. Uses the Free Dictionary API.

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Shift+D

Translation

Translate content into 14 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi.

Translation providers:

• MyMemory (default): Free, no API key required
• DeepL: Premium quality, requires free API key
• Azure Translator: 90+ languages, requires free API key

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+T

Citation Management

Generate citations in Harvard Style (Cite Them Right, 13th edition) for websites, books, journals, newspapers, videos, and social media. Includes:

• Bibliography manager with project organization
• CRAAP test evaluation for source quality
• Export to BibTeX, RIS, JSON, and CSV formats

Text Statistics

Track word count, character count, sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+W

Highlight Menu

Quick-access toolbar appears when you select text. Configurable actions include: Read Aloud, Dictionary, Translate, Annotate, and Speed Read. Auto-hides after a customizable delay.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+H (toggle)

Visual Comfort & Accessibility

Focus Mode

Dims surrounding content and centers the reading area to reduce visual distractions.

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+F

Reading Guide

Horizontal line that follows your cursor to help track reading position. Customize color (6 options), thickness (1–10px), and opacity (10–100%).

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+G

Screen Color Overlays

Apply color filters for visual comfort: Sepia, Soft Yellow, Peach, Cream, Cool Blue, Soft Green, Light Pink, Blue Light Filter, and Grayscale.

Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Shift+O

Reading Progress Bar

Visual indicator showing scroll progress. Position at top or bottom of page with color options: Green, Blue, Orange, Purple, Pink.

Text Customization

• 5 Fonts: System Default, Lexend, OpenDyslexic, Comic Sans MS, Arial
• Spacing Controls: Line height (1.0–3.0x), letter spacing (0–50%), word spacing (0–50%), paragraph spacing (1.0–4.0em)

All spacing options are WCAG 2.2 SC 1.4.12 compliant.

True Dark Mode

Four presets optimized for different preferences:

• AMOLED: Pure black (#000000) for OLED screens
• Dark Gray: Softer alternative (#1E1E1E)
• Navy: Calming blue tone (#0D1B2A)
• Sepia Dark: Warm dark mode (#1A1510)

Reduced Motion

Disables all animations for users with vestibular disorders. Respects the prefers-reduced-motion system preference. WCAG 2.1 SC 2.3.3 compliant.

Custom Cursor & Magnifying Lens

Enhanced cursor visibility with multiple styles. Floating magnification window with 1x–10x zoom that follows your cursor.

Productivity

Pomodoro Timer

Configurable work intervals (5–60 minutes) and breaks (1–30 minutes) with visual progress and optional audio notifications. Designed with ADHD support in mind.

Media Control

Block autoplay video and audio to prevent distractions and sensory overload.

Neurodivergent User Profiles

General Profiles (9)

Comprehensive settings optimized for:

• ADHD
• Autism Spectrum
• Dyslexia
• Anxiety
• Motor Impairment
• Low Vision
• General Learning Disabilities
• Cognitive Overload
• Sensory Sensitivities

Speech-to-Text Profiles (7)

Specialized STT configurations with customized timing, UI appearance, and feedback:

1. Default: Standard settings
2. ADHD Focus: Fast response (800ms), minimal distractions, large buttons
3. Dyslexia Support: Extended processing time (3s), spelling assistance, 3 word alternatives
4. Anxiety Calm: Forgiving timing (4s), calming colors, gentle feedback
5. Motor Impairment: Voice activation, extra-large buttons (80px), 60s speech timeout
6. Low Vision: Maximum contrast, 96px buttons, full audio feedback
7. Autism Comfort: Predictable behavior, literal commands, no surprises

AI Features (Optional)

AssisT offers four AI modes to match your privacy and performance needs:

1. Off Mode

No AI processing—all other 35+ accessibility features still work perfectly. Choose this if you don’t need AI assistance or want to minimize resource usage.

2. Local AI (Ollama)

• Privacy: 100% private, runs on your computer
• Cost: Free
• Requirements: Ollama installation
• Best For: Users prioritizing privacy, offline access, FERPA/HIPAA compliance

Recommended models:

• phi3:mini (2GB) - Fast responses for basic tasks
• llama3.2 (5GB) - Balanced performance
• llava (4.7GB) - Image understanding (vision)

3. Gemini Nano (Chrome Built-In)

• Privacy: 100% private, on-device processing
• Cost: Free
• Requirements: Chrome 128+ with feature flag enabled
• Best For: Zero-setup AI, Chrome users, private on-device processing

No installation needed—Chrome downloads the model automatically. Learn more →

4. Cloud AI (Your API Key)

• Privacy: Data sent to Anthropic (not Fiavaion)
• Cost: Pay-per-use (you control spending)
• Models: Claude Haiku 4.5 (fast), Sonnet 4.5 (balanced), Opus 4.6 (most capable)
• Best For: Maximum capability, latest AI features, complex analysis

Typical costs: $0.002-0.004 per summary with Sonnet 4.5. You provide your own API key from Anthropic Console. API keys are encrypted with AES-256 and stored locally.

Learn more about AI modes and setup →

AI Features Available

With any AI mode enabled (except Off), you get:

• Smart Summarization: Brief, detailed, bullet points, or ELI5 mode
• Text Simplification: Three complexity levels for better comprehension
• Assignment Breakdown: Convert instructions to step-by-step checklists
• Socratic Tutor: Guided questions for deeper learning
• Image Understanding: Describe images and diagrams (Ollama llava model or Cloud AI)
• Knowledge Graph: Visualize concept connections
• Cognitive State Monitor: Detect fatigue and suggest breaks
• Study Path Generator: Create personalized learning roadmaps

Keyboard Shortcuts

All shortcuts are customizable in settings. Chrome-reserved shortcuts are automatically blocked.

Action	Shortcut
TTS Play/Pause	Ctrl+Shift+Space
TTS Stop	Ctrl+Shift+S
OCR Capture	Alt+O
Reading Mode	Alt+R
Dictionary Lookup	Alt+Shift+D
Text Statistics	Ctrl+Shift+W
Highlight Menu	Ctrl+Shift+H
Create Note	Alt+N
Translation	Alt+T
Focus Mode	Alt+F
Reading Guide	Alt+G
Screen Overlay	Alt+Shift+O
Dyslexia Mode	Alt+Y
STT Profile Switch	Ctrl+Shift+P

Privacy & Data

AssisT is built with privacy as a core principle:

• No tracking: We don’t collect any user data
• No cloud processing: All features run in your browser
• No external servers: Your text, documents, and images never leave your device
• Local storage only: Settings and annotations stored in Chrome’s local storage
• GDPR/FERPA/HIPAA compliant: Safe for educational and healthcare settings

When you use optional translation providers (DeepL, Azure), text is sent to their servers according to their privacy policies. The default MyMemory provider requires no API key.

Read our full Privacy Policy →

Accessibility Standards

AssisT meets WCAG 2.2 AA compliance standards:

• Semantic HTML structure throughout
• Full keyboard navigation support
• Screen reader compatible with ARIA labels
• High contrast mode available
• Focus indicators on all interactive elements
• Text spacing meets SC 1.4.12 requirements
• Reduced motion respects SC 2.3.3

Technical Details

• 35+ accessibility features (plus 8 AI features)
• 14 customizable keyboard shortcuts
• 50+ voice commands for hands-free control
• 16 neurodivergent profiles (9 general + 7 STT-specific)
• 5 font options including OpenDyslexic and Lexend
• 4 dark mode presets
• 14 supported languages for translation
• 100+ languages for OCR text extraction
• Unit tests: 28 test suites covering core functionality
• E2E tests: 11 Playwright test suites
• 20,000+ lines of carefully crafted code

Support Development

Love AssisT? Help us continue building accessible learning tools for everyone. Look for the Support button in the extension popup.

Support the Project →