How to Use the Helperbird Accessibility Toolbar

What is the Accessibility Toolbar?

The accessibility toolbar is a small Helperbird button that floats on every website. Click it and a tidy bar slides open with your favourite tools, all in one place.

From the toolbar you can read the page aloud, look up a word, translate text, open immersive reader, turn on predictive text, dictate with voice typing, switch on the reading ruler, open reading mode, and extract text from images. It saves you opening the Helperbird popup every time you need a tool.

Who is This For?

This feature is helpful for:

• People with dyslexia who want read aloud and the reading ruler one click away
• Students who move quickly between reading, looking up words, and taking notes
• Anyone who finds typing tiring and prefers to speak their writing
• People who want their accessibility tools on the page instead of in a menu
• Teachers and schools who want a simple, always-visible set of tools

Step 1: Turn On the Toolbar

The toolbar is off by default. To switch it on, click the Helperbird icon in your browser toolbar to open the Helperbird panel.

Then click the Settings button (the gear icon) to open the Helperbird Settings page.

Find the Floating button section and turn on Show floating Helperbird button.

A small Helperbird logo will now appear on every website you visit.

Tip: Schools and organisations can turn the toolbar on for everyone using a managed policy, so students do not have to enable it themselves.

Step 2: Open the Toolbar

Look for the small Helperbird logo floating in the corner of the page.

Click it once and the toolbar slides open to show all of your tools. Click the logo again to tuck the toolbar back down to just the logo.

Step 3: Use a Tool

Each tool on the toolbar does one thing. Hover over a button to see its name.

• Play and Stop - Read the page aloud. If you highlight some text first, only that text is read. If nothing is selected, the whole page is read, and each word is highlighted as it is spoken.
• Dictionary - Highlight a single word, then click Dictionary to see its meaning.
• Translate - Highlight some text, then click Translate to open it in your chosen language.
• Immersive Reader - Opens your selection, or the whole page, in a clean reading view.
• Predictive text - Turns on word prediction as you type in text boxes.
• Voice typing - Opens a dictation window so you can speak instead of type (see below).
• Reading ruler - Turns on a guide that helps you focus on one line at a time.
• Reading mode - Removes ads and clutter so you can read just the article.
• Extract text - Pulls the text out of an image or a scanned PDF.
• Open Helperbird - Opens the full Helperbird panel for everything else.

Step 4: Move the Toolbar

You can put the toolbar wherever suits you.

Click and hold the move handle (the arrows on the far right of the toolbar) and drag it anywhere on the screen. When you let go, Helperbird remembers the spot, so the toolbar is waiting in the same place next time.

When the toolbar is closed, you can also drag the logo itself to move it.

Using Voice Typing

Click the Voice typing button (the microphone) and a small dictation window opens.

Press the mic in that window to start, then speak. Your words appear in the box as you talk. Press the mic again to stop.

When you are finished, click Copy to copy your text, then paste it wherever you need it, an email, a document, or a comment box.

Tip: Voice typing is great for long replies or for capturing a thought quickly without typing.

What's Free and What's Pro

The toolbar itself is free, and so are several of its tools: read aloud, translate, the reading ruler, and reading mode.

A few tools are part of Helperbird Pro: dictionary, immersive reader, voice typing, predictive text, and extract text. Free users still see these on the toolbar. If you tap one, Helperbird shows a quick note that it is a Pro feature.

Tips

• The toolbar only shows tools that are available. If an administrator has turned a tool off, it will not appear.
• The toolbar lives in its own isolated layer, so it looks and behaves the same on every website, no matter how that site is styled.
• Read aloud and word highlighting work best with a local browser voice.
• You can use the whole toolbar with a keyboard. Tab or use the arrow keys to move between tools, and press Escape to close it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the accessibility toolbar free? Yes. The toolbar is free, along with read aloud, translate, the reading ruler, and reading mode. Dictionary, immersive reader, voice typing, predictive text, and extract text are part of Helperbird Pro.

Which browsers does it work on? The toolbar works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. The "Open Helperbird" button uses the side panel, which is available on Chrome and Edge.

How do I turn the toolbar off? Open Helperbird, go to Settings, find the Floating button section, and turn off "Show floating Helperbird button".

Will it get in the way of the page? No. It starts as a small logo and stays out of the way. You can drag it anywhere, and it remembers where you put it.

Does the toolbar change how websites look? No. The toolbar sits in its own isolated layer on top of the page, so it does not affect the website, and the website cannot change how the toolbar looks.

Related Guides

• How to Use Text to Speech
• How to Use Voice Typing
• How to Use Immersive Reader
• How to Use a Dyslexia Ruler

Video Tutorial

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.