Get Together with Technology (GTT)

New Westminster Meeting

A Chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind

in partnership with

Blind Beginnings

Vancouver Community College

And

Canadian Assistive Technology

Summary Notes

September 25, 2019

How to use Reader View on the Mac, PC, iOS and Android Browsers

What is Reader/Simplified View, and why does anyone want to explore it?  Here’s an article that might explain it, followed by a link to the CCB Podcast and text instructions on how to use it in your favourite, or soon to be favourite browser.

Reader View

First posted on July 12, 2018 by Rob Tomlinson

“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s dictum that “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” can be re-deployed most helpfully when discussing Reader View, a topic that touches on web page design and browser behaviour.”…

Find the CCB Podcast of this event at the link below:

09 GTT New Westminster, Reader View in iOS, Nac and PC Browsers, September 25, 2019:

PC Browsers:

Simplified View for Google Chrome on the PC:

Google Chrome Download Page;

1. type this into a new tab in Google Chrome

chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode

press enter.

2. A Chrome settings page comes up that you can navigate using headings.
3. Press the letter H until you get to reading mode.
4. There is a combo box that shows that reader mode is disabled.
5. Press enter to go into forms mode if using Jaws.
6. Press the down arrow to get to enabled and press enter.
7. Go to the bottom of the page with control end and there is a restart chrome button, and Press enter.
8. Now visit a page that has news stories such as this article from the Victoria Times Colonist,
9. You can try down arrowing through the page and see all the links, controls and advertisements on the page.
10. Press the Alt Key to bring up a menu and either up or down arrow to “Toggle distilled page contents” and press enter.
11. you will hear your screen reader say, “Simplified View”.
12. Now what you have is the news article in its entirety without the ads and other controls.
13. To get the page back to normal view, repeat step 11 and press Enter.
14. Press the Escape Key to close the menu.

Reader View for Firefox on the PC:

Reader View is a Firefox feature that strips away clutter like buttons, ads and background images, and changes the page’s text size, contrast and layout for better readability.

Mozilla Firefox Download Page;

1. Open Firefox and enter the address of the page you want to visit, let’s use the Victoria Times Colonist article again.
2. Examine the page with down and up arrow keys to see that it is cluttered with links, controls and advertisements.
3. Press the f9 key to enable reader view.
4. If nothing happens then reader view is not available for the current page.
5. If reader view is available, the page loads and is clutter free.

Mac Browsers:

Reader View for Safari on the Mac:

Safari Browser for the Mac Download Page;

To display an article in Reader on the Mac, do the following:

1. Click the Safari icon on the Dock or Launchpad.
2. Type in the URL for the website you want to visit.

For example, you might visit The New Yorker at www.newyorker.com.

3. Click the article you want to read. You see the article with various advertisements, banners, photos, links, and so on.
4. Click the Reader button, or press Command+Shift+R.
5. If the article runs over several pages, Reader displays it as one continuous page so you need only scroll down, not click from one page to the next.
6. If you need to adjust the size of the text, click the type buttons (the two A’s) in the upper-left corner.
7. To exit Reader, click the Reader button, or press the Esc key to exit Reader and return to the normal Safari view of the article. Click the Back button to return to the original site.
8. In both Reader and normal Safari view, press ⌘+= or ⌘+– to zoom in or out on the text. If you have a Magic Mouse or Trackpad or a MacBook that recognizes multi-touch gestures, you can also pinch in or out to zoom.

iOS 12.4 Browsers:

Sadly, we could find nothing to say there is a Reader or Simplified View for the Google Chrome Browser for iOS.

Reader View for Safari Browser on iOS:

How to enable Reader View in Safari in iOS 12.4:

1. Launch Safarifrom your Home screen.
2. Navigate to the website you’d like to read.
3. Tap the Reader button on the left of the address bar. It looks like a series of stacked lines.
4. If the Reader button doesn’t appear it means the page isn’t able to be simplified.

Reader View for Mozilla Firefox Browser in iOS 12.4:

Mozilla Firefox Download Page on the App Store for iPad and iPhone;

How to enable Reader View in Firefox on iOS:

1. Launch Firefox from your Home screen.
2. Navigate to the website you’d like to read.
3. Tap the Reader button on the right of the address bar. It looks like a series of stacked lines.
4. Double Tap it again to turn it off when you want access to more of the page.
5. If the Reader button doesn’t appear it means the page isn’t able to be simplified.

Reader View for Microsoft Edge in iOS 12.4:

Microsoft Edge Download for iPad and iPhone;

How to enable Reader View in Microsoft Edge on iOS:

1. Launch Edge from your Home screen.
2. Navigate to the website you’d like to read.
3. Tap the Reader Mode button on the right of the address bar. It looks like a book that is open.
4. Double Tap the Done button to turn it off when you want access to more of the page.
5. If the Reader Mode button doesn’t appear it means the page isn’t able to be simplified.

Android Browsers:

Simplified View for Google Chrome on Android:

Google Chrome Browser Download from the Google Play Store;

How to Enable Reader Mode in Chrome for Android?

1. Open Chromeon your Android smartphone or tablet and type

chrome://flags

in the address/search bar and hit enter. The Chrome Flags page will open up.

2. Hit the three dot button inthe top right corner and tap “Find in page “.
3. Once enabled, you will see a “Make page mobile-friendly” button at the end of the webpage.

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

Albert Ruel                   or                        Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968,550                               1-877-304-0968,513

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net                GTTProgram@Gmail.com

CCB Backgrounder:

The CCB was founded in 1944 by a coalition of blind war veterans, schools of the blind and local chapters to create a national self-governing organization. The CCB was incorporated by Letters Patent on May 10, 1950 and is a registered charity under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The purpose of the CCB is to give people with vision loss a distinctive and unique perspective before governments.  CCB deals with the ongoing effects of vision loss by encouraging active living and rehabilitation through peer support and social and recreational activities.

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

The CCB understands in many instances vision loss is preventable and sometimes is symptomatic of other health issues.  For the 21st century, the CCB is committed to an integrated proactive health approach for early detection to improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON  K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net