How to Read a Page Aloud from the Floating Toolbar

Learn how to use the Play and Stop buttons on Helperbird's floating toolbar to have a web page, or just the part you selected, read out loud.

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  • features

What This Does

The Play button reads the page to you. Select some text first and it reads only that; select nothing and it reads the whole page.


Who is This For?

This is helpful for:

  • Anyone who takes more in by listening than by reading
  • Students working through a long article
  • People with dyslexia or tired eyes
  • Anyone who wants to follow along while doing something else

Step 1: Open the Toolbar

If the toolbar is closed, it sits in the bottom-left corner as a single round button. Click it to open the row of tools.

The Helperbird floating toolbar open along the bottom of a web page, showing its row of tools

If you do not see it at all, it needs turning on first. See how to turn on the floating toolbar.


Step 2: Use It

To read one part, drag across the text you want, then press Play.

To read the whole page, press Play without selecting anything.

Press Stop, the square next to it, to finish early.

A paragraph selected on a web page with the Helperbird floating toolbar below it, reading the selection aloud

It uses the voice and speed from your text to speech settings, so change them there and this follows.


Video Tutorial

Coming soon


Need Additional Help?

If you have any questions or run into any issues, please contact the Helperbird support team. You can reach us at Helperbird support. We are happy to help you get the most out of Helperbird.

What People Are Saying

Join over 1,000,000 people who use Helperbird every day.

The free version of this is so great and helpful to a LOT of people...but the upgraded version is next level:)

Mia Laudato

Mia Laudato

Helperbird user

Huge fan of the zoom feature. It trumps the native zoom in your browser since the zoom level you set actually stays with you no matter what page you go to, which is very helpful and meshes well with the other features the app offers.

Taylor Kirkpatrick

Taylor Kirkpatrick

Helperbird user

I have ADHD and yesterday Helperbird and the text-to-speech function (available in free version) turned a 28-page reading assignment from a two-day task to roughly two hours, maybe three at the absolute most. It helped tremendously! And I loved that the text-to-speech has such a fluid voice compared to a lot of others I've used! Honestly, the fact that this was created by someone who knows the struggles is something I love, because then it has neurodivergency in mind. I've tried too many things in the past that were created by neurotypical folk trying to be helpful to us and I do appreciate it, but it doesn't work as well because our brains work different. Highly recommend!

Addison Brown

Addison Brown

Helperbird user

It's just a one-stop solution if I want to customize my page. With very good UI design.

g2.com review

g2.com review

Verified User in Design

I am very happy with this application has been very helpful for my studying I recommend this application for the people that have concentration problems like me!

Nuria E Rivera R

Nuria E Rivera R

Helperbird user

Helperbird is an excellent extension supporting a range of learning differences. Aside from providing many evidence-based dyslexia-assistive tools, the extension also functions as an easy-to-use, feature-rich web experience customization tool suitable to support a wide range of cognitive differences (i.e., color blindness and ADHD-related focus concerns, among others). Also, the developer is a very good person who supports the various learning-different communities in many ways, including by designing the free version of Helperbird to provide enough functionality to be beneficial to people who cannot afford to subscribe to the full-function version.

Kirk Smith

Kirk Smith

Helperbird user

Helperbird logo: Stylized owl with large yellow eyes and a beige face, against a green background.

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