An RSVP reader contained entirely within a bookmarklet!
Also the first to be able to read PDFs!
- Go to source.js
- Copy the entire contents of the file
- Create a bookmark in your browser
- Name it
RSVPlet - Set the URL to the code you copied
- Name it
I wanted to make a bookmarklet link that you could just drag into the bookmarks bar, but GitHub doesn't allow embedding JavaScript links into markup files.
- Highlight whatever text you want to read
- Click the bookmarklet
- Click the rectangle (or press space on the keyboard) to pause/play the reader
- Click outside of the rectangle (or press escape on the keyboard) to exit early
If text cannot be read (e.g. from within an iframe), copy the text and try again, it will attempt to read from the clipboard.
If you want to change the speed or colors or anything, simply edit the
settings dictionary near the beginning of the bookmarklet's URL
(documented below).
- wpm - Max word-per-minute speed to run at (words are considered 5 characters)
- startDelay - Number of milliseconds to wait before starting, applies to unpausing too
- endDelay - Number of milliseconds to wait at the end before closing
- punctMult - Multiplier applied to duration for words containing punctuation
- punctAdd - Number added to duration for words containing punctuation
- symbMult - Multiplier applied to duration for words containing symbols
- symbAdd - Number added to duration for words containing symbols
- enableStatus - Defines if Play/Pause status is shown in left corner
- enableTime - Defines if estimated reading time is shown in top middle
- enableProgress - Defines if progress bar is shown at the top
- textFontSize - Size of text being flashed
- statusFontSize - Size of status and time estimate texts
- progressSize - Thickness of the progress bar
- textColor - Outer color of text being flashed
- textColor2 - Color of middle character of text being flashed
- statusColor - Color of status and time estimate texts
- backgroundColor - Color of the rectangle containing flashing text
- modalColor - Color of the background modal
- progressColor - Color of the progress bar
- punctuation - List of punctuation characters for delay calculation
- symbols - List of symbol characters for delay calculation
- enableClipboard - Defines if clipboard should be read if no selection found
- Cannot read text from iframes or Google Doc
- PDF support is spotty
- Mostly tested only in Google Chrome. Firefox may work but is not guaranteed
RSVP is a technique to flash words sequentially in a way that allows high speed reading (hundreds of words per minute) without having to move the eyes.
RSVPlet (RSVP bookmarklet) is a functional and simple RSVP reader that lives completely contained in a bookmarklet with no installation required and no need to access the internet for anything.
This mechanism allows it to be easily accessible on any major browser while being fully configurable and pretty.
I learned about RSVP readers in 2020 and found them to be quite nice for reading anything that wasn't too technical and didn't require expert understanding (traditional slow reading still gives better reading comprehension).
I particularly liked how the Stutter reader looked and worked, however it required installing an extension, which I couldn't do on my work computer. So I then used AccelaReader, but wasn't too fond of how it looked or the extra steps to use it.
I decided to make my own RSVP reader, inspired by the beauty of Stutter and the bookmarklet concept of AccelaReader. So here it is.
... Also I was bored on the bus going home one day, so writing the first version was a nice little distraction for the 2 hour journey. Actually, most of the code for this was done over multiple bus rides...