Pontis

Extension UI
Extension Off
ADHD Break up large text on

Inspiration: Pontis was inspired by people we know with dyslexia and ADHD who struggle to read long articles and navigate cluttered web pages. We saw how overwhelming dense text, poor formatting, and constant distractions can make the internet feel inaccessible. We wanted to build something that bridges that gap and makes online content easier to consume for everyone.

What it does: Pontis is a Chrome extension that adds customizable reading support to any webpage in real time. It offers two main modes:

Dyslexia Mode: Users can adjust fonts, text size, spacing, background and text colors, enable bolding for readability, and remove distracting styles like italics or underlines.
ADHD Mode: Users can apply high-contrast themes, customize accent colors, and automatically split long paragraphs into smaller, more manageable chunks. All settings are configurable through a collapsible popup panel and are saved automatically across devices using Chrome sync.

How we built it: We built Pontis as a Chrome extension using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The extension injects scripts into active webpages to dynamically modify styles and structure based on user preferences. The UI was designed to be simple and accessible, with live updates applied instantly to the current tab.

Challenges we ran into: One major challenge was applying consistent styling across different websites, since each site has its own structure and CSS rules. Breaking long paragraphs dynamically without disrupting layout was also tricky. Additionally, balancing powerful customization with a clean and simple user interface required careful design decisions.

Accomplishments that we're proud of: We’re proud of creating a tool that has real-world impact and directly addresses accessibility challenges. The real-time transformation of webpages, combined with deep customization, makes Pontis both powerful and easy to use.

What we learned: We learned how complex web accessibility can be, especially when dealing with diverse user needs and unpredictable website structures. We also gained experience working with Chrome extension APIs, real-time DOM manipulation, and designing for accessibility and usability at the same time.

What's next for Pontis: Next, we plan to add text-to-speech, AI-powered summaries, and support for more accessibility needs such as color blindness. Ultimately, we want Pontis to become a universal accessibility layer for the web.