How to Use the Line Focus on Any Website

Learn how to use line focus on any website. Highlight one line at a time for better reading Support accessibility for everyone. Learn how to use Helperbird's Line Focus feature to highlight one line of text while dimming everything else. This helps you concentrate on reading without distractions.

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What is Line Focus?

Line Focus (also called Focus Ruler) creates a spotlight effect on the line you are reading. It dims everything on the page except for one strip of text, making it much easier to concentrate.

Think of it like shining a flashlight on just one line while the rest of the page fades into the background. This helps reduce visual clutter and keeps your attention on the text you are reading.


Who is This For?

This feature is helpful for:

  • People with dyslexia who get distracted by surrounding text
  • Anyone with ADHD or attention difficulties
  • People who find busy web pages overwhelming
  • Students who need to focus while studying
  • Anyone who wants to reduce visual distractions while reading

Step 1: Open Helperbird

Click the Helperbird icon in your browser toolbar. It looks like a small owl and is usually in the top-right corner of your browser.

This will open the Helperbird menu.


Step 2: Open the All Features Section

Scroll down to the bottom of the Helperbird menu. You will see a section called All Features.

Click the arrow next to All Features to expand it and show all available features.


Step 3: Find Dyslexia Support

Look through the list of features until you see Dyslexia support.

It has a purple icon with a brain symbol on it.


Step 4: Open Dyslexia Support

Click on Dyslexia support to open it.

A panel will appear with two tabs at the top: Tools and Settings.

Make sure the Tools tab is selected. This is where you will find the Line Focus toggle.


Step 5: Turn on Line Focus

In the Tools tab, look for Focus ruler (also called Line Focus).

Click the toggle switch next to it to turn it on. The toggle will turn green when it is enabled.

The page will immediately dim except for a strip of text where you can focus.


Step 6: Customize the Focus

To adjust how the line focus looks and behaves, click on the Settings tab at the top of the panel.

Here you can change the size, color, and behavior of the focus area.


Focus Settings

In the Settings tab, you can customize the following:

  • Height – Adjust how tall the focused reading area is. Make it taller to see more lines or shorter to focus on just one line.

  • Width – Control how far across the screen the focus area extends.

  • Color – Choose the color of the dimmed area around your focus strip. Darker colors create more contrast.

  • Brightness – Adjust how dark the dimmed area is. Lower brightness makes the surrounding area darker.

  • Follow Cursor – When turned on, the focus area moves with your mouse. When turned off, it stays in one place.

  • Position – When Follow Cursor is off, you can set exactly where the focus area appears.

Tip: For the best reading experience, turn on Follow Cursor and use a dark overlay color. This creates a spotlight effect that follows your mouse as you read down the page.


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.

What People Are Saying

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

I have been a user of Helperbird for the past year or so and a huge fan of the work Robert has done. I have switched from Chrome to Firefox and glad this here too. 5/5. Can't wait for Voice Typing support

Damon Robin

Damon Robin

Firefox user

Helperbird helps enhance my studying and research efforts by allowing me to add sticky notes and highlight important stuff on websites, or e-books. I can also easily remember to read articles later.

Jared B.

Jared B.

Marketing Director

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

Wow what great tool, I love it! Keep up the excellent work. Add more fonts in the future and cant wait for the ios version!!

A Google User

A Google User

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

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

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

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