Cognify- Clarity for all

Inspiration

We recognize students are not always on an equal playing field when learning. Many suffer from a variety of issues, such as learning or mental disabilities, or simply coming from a background that may not be suitable for the current learning environment. Although there are so many issues that need attention, we have focused on 3, those with dyslexia, ADHD, and those whose first language is not English. Our aim is to help students from this background gain more from their studying, from increasing comprehension and readability to improving focus, giving a leg up to those who may not have access to other resources

What it does

Cognify has a multitude of features to help students who suffer from a wide array of learning hurdles. Dyslexic students are often at a disadvantage when reading due to their disability, and our app intends to give them a leg up in this manner. The extension provides the opportunity to change a website's/document's text to a variety of more accessible fonts, spacing, etc. We also give students the option to change their current page's background into something that may be easier for them to study with.

We also provide a module that creates a pomodoro timer, which has shown to be incredibly helpful in ensuring that students with ADHD can improve their focus and increase their productivity. Furthermore, we have both a text to speech option and the use of Gemini API to create a summary for long and difficult texts.

However, these implementations can also be useful for students in a different category - those whose first language is not English. In addition to the summarizer and text-to-speech (which may be easier to understand), we have implemented Gemini to give translations into different languages (as directed by the user) and provide written pronunciation for those who want to strengthen their English skills, when the user right clicks on a word or phrase.

How we built it

We used a multitude of platforms for our project: For development, we used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in VS Code to bring our design to life. The HTML structured the interface, while CSS handled styling and accessibility-focused themes. JavaScript made the tool interactive allowing users to dynamically adjust font type, size, line spacing, and background color in real time.

For the AI implementation, we created a server to receive requests from the client, and using an API key, we would send the message to Gemini. In turn, Gemini would return the script it had generated and we would display it on the frontend. We used the same process to implement the AI agent from ElevenLabs for voice to speech.

Challenges we ran into

For the AI implementation, sometimes the message wouldn’t go through at all, or the API would stop working. One of the hardest parts was formatting the message in a way that Gemini would understand, as sometimes Gemini would give an unsatisfactory output. Meanwhile the AI agent from ElevenLabs needed the input to be formatted in a specific manner if it was to interpret the text. We struggled to find the right balance between keeping the interface calm and simple while still giving users real control over their experience. Making features like text spacing, color overlays, and focus modes work smoothly on all kinds of websites was harder than we expected. Small CSS tweaks could easily break layouts. It took a lot of testing and fine-tuning to make Cognify feel both functional and genuinely comfortable to use for everyone.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

One of the accomplishments we are proud of is the implementation of two working servers that receive messages from the client and pass it on to the AI on the other side, as well as the accurate and helpful output the AI returns.

On the UI/UX side, we are proud of creating a clean and calming inclusive interface that is accessible and adapts to different cognitive needs.

What we learned

Out of the many things we’ve learned, some of the most important include understanding how to integrate AI into our project, manage API keys securely, and connect front-end design with server communication. We also learned the value of designing with empathy — especially when creating for neurodiverse users. This experience showed us that accessibility isn’t just about adding features, but about building an interface that feels natural, intuitive, and genuinely supportive for everyone. Along the way, we developed a deeper appreciation for using technology to help others.

What's next for Cognify

Cognify will hopefully grow beyond prototype into a fully accessible, AI-powered reading companion for all kinds of minds. Our next steps are to add a cross-browser support and develop a mobile-friendly version for students and professionals who read on the go. We also aim to partner with neurodiversity and education organizations to co-design new accessibility features and gather real user feedback. In the long term, we envision Cognify as an open-source accessibility toolkit that helps developers and educators make any website more inclusive, adaptive, and comfortable to read.