Spreeder - Online Speed-Reading Tool

Spreeder is an online speed reading tool that provides a simple way for individuals to improve their speed reading abilities. The goals of spreeder are to reduce the tendency of individuals to subvocalize when reading text, increase one's ability to comprehend chunks of information, and eliminate the need to reread text. Accomplishing these goals will lead to an increased reading speed.

Site Overview

When you first open up the site, you will see a set of instructions in a box of text. The text basically instructs you on how to use spreeder. Basically, spreeder works by flashing words sequentially at the user at a pace that the user can set and manage. You can try out how spreeder works using the instructional text given by default when you first access the tool's website. Just click on spreed! at the bottom of the text box to begin your speed reading session.

Once you click on the spreed! button, you will be sent to a different screen without opening up new tabs or windows. The beginning of the text will appear. Below the text, you will see a small player that includes a play and rewind button. Below this player, you will see the statistics of your current session. Specifically, you will be shown how many words are in the session in total, as well as how quickly the words will be flashed in words per minute (wpm).

To begin, press the play button, or press P on your keyboard. The text will start flashing in front of you, one by one, in order. Try to focus on the text and see how much you can absorb in one session.

If you feel that the words are coming at you too quickly, you can adjust the speed setting by pressing S on your keyboard. The settings will come up, and here you can change the following:
-words per minute
-chunk size, or the amount of text that will appear per flash
-window width and height
-font size
-font color
-background color
-text alignment

There are also advanced settings for extra fine tuning. For instance, you can have the text remain longer for larger chunks of text or longer words. You can also have spreeder pause at the end of sentences or paragraphs. There are a couple of other tweaks you can play around with.

Site Review

Spreeder is a great, simple way to help people improve their reading speed. The bookmarklet feature of the site is especially useful. Though the site has a few ads on it, they are relatively unobtrusive. Whether you want to speed through news articles or emails, or wish to improve your reading ability, spreeder can help you improve the speed at which you read so you can have more time to do other things.