01
Discovery
Inside the dyslexic reading brain.
We sat with Hillary, talked to reading specialists, and got feedback from students. We read research on the issues and educated ourselves on dyslexia
Summerbell.
Curved text,
tracked, comprehended, enjoyed.
On every page, in every app.
Film · 00:50
May 2024 · Blinq.
Reading, without the fight it usually takes.
A line of text is a tightrope. An arc is a path.
Context
Hillary Summerbell is a designer who grew up reading the long way around. Visual dyslexia made every line of text feel like a tightrope. Years later she noticed something: when she curved text into a gentle arc on a sketchpad, the words clicked.
She patented the method. She partnered with reading specialists. Then she came to Blinq with the simple question: how do we put this in front of every dyslexic student, parent, and adult who needs it, on the devices they already own?
What we did
A Chrome extension that pulls the important text out of any webpage and curves it on the spot. An iOS app and an Android app with Reader, Writer, and Word Helper. One shared arc engine underneath them all.
Then we helped Hillary partner with the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins for an independent classroom study that turned the method into evidence.
02 · Approach
Four passes. From a sketchpad arc to a clinical result.
Duration
Multi-year partnership
02
Arc engine
One arc, every surface.
A shared typesetting engine that takes any plain text, breaks it on natural pause points, and lays it down on a positional reading arc. Identical math on iOS, Android, and the web.
03
Build
Three surfaces, shipped.
A Chrome extension that curves any webpage in place. iOS and Android apps that operate as browsers. Built so a dyslexic 10-year-old can use them without reading the manual.
04
Validate
Proof, by Johns Hopkins.
There was an independent evaluation by the Center for Research and Reform in Education. Real classrooms, real teachers, real students with dyslexia. Real fluency gains on the page.
Feature · Nº 01
The Positional Reading Arc.
Plain text laid down on a gentle arc. Eyes track the curve instead of fighting it. Comprehension catches up. Hillary’s sketchpad insight, made into a patented, deterministic typesetting method that any device can render.
Status
U.S. patent granted
A patented typesetting method for arcing linear text. The only one of its kind for reading accessibility.
Before
The brain remembers the shape of a sentence, not the line it was forced to walk along. The brain remembers the shape of a sentence, not the line it was forced.
Linear text. Words sit on a tightrope. The eye loses its place at every line break.
After · Arc
Same words, on a positional arc. The eye follows the curve, the brain catches the shape, comprehension follows.
Shape supports fluency
Summerbell reshapes text to improve tracking, pacing, and reading flow for visual learners.
Built for predictable reading.
Each sentence follows a consistent visual structure, reducing uncertainty and cognitive friction.
Assistive, not adaptive fiction.
The original words stay intact. Summerbell changes presentation, not meaning.
Feature · Nº 02
Curve any page
on the open web.
A Chrome extension that quietly extracts the readable text from any webpage. News, recipes, school assignments, Wikipedia and lays it back down on the Summerbell arc, right inside the tab. Two clicks, no copy-paste.
01
Extract.
Strips ads, sidebars, and clutter the way a reader-mode does, keeps just the article body, headings, and lists.
02
Curve.
Hands the text to the shared arc engine. Same typesetting math as the iOS and Android apps, rendered in the tab.
03
Remember.
A per-site setting that turns Summerbell on automatically next visit. Students never have to ask for the version they can read.
Feature · Nº 03
Reading, redesigned for visual dyslexics
Reading Arc. Word Helper. Guided Support.
A native iOS and Android suite that puts the entire Summerbell method in the pocket of every student. Summerbell transforms traditional text into a visual reading experience built for comprehension. Readers can reshape books and web content into the Summerbell arc, decode unfamiliar words instantly, and build confidence reading independently.
Available on
iOS
Android
“Reading, in any moment of the day.”
App · 01
Reading Arc
Turn books, articles, and websites into Summerbell’s patented visual reading format.
App · 02
Read the Web
Turn websites and AI conversations into the Summerbell reading format.
App · 03
Instant Word Help
Tap difficult words to hear pronunciation, see definitions, and break them down instantly.
03 · Under the hood
One method, three surfaces, one piece of evidence.
A single arc engine drives everything Summerbell ships. The same typesetting kernel runs on iOS, Android, and the web. Independent classroom research keeps the method honest.
1
Surfaces · What people use
Chrome extension, iOS app, Android app.
Three native surfaces that look, feel, and behave like the platform they live on. One shared design system.
Read
Write
Look up
2
Arc engine · The patent
The Positional Reading Arc kernel.
Takes raw text in, breaks it on cadence, places each phrase on a deterministic curve. The patented heart of every Summerbell surface.
Cadence break
Arc fit
Render
3
Dictionary assistance
Word Helper intelligence.
Pronunciation, syllable breaks, child-grade definitions, and synonym pills, tuned for early and struggling readers, not adults.
Hear
Pronounce
Split
Syllables
Define
Words
4
Research backbone
Independent classroom evidence.
The Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins evaluated the Summerbell program with real teachers and real dyslexic students.
Cohort
Dyslexic readers
Voice
Teachers
Output
CRRE report
Built with
React Native
Swift
Kotlin
TypeScript
WebExtensions
Ruby on Rails
04 · Results
What Johns Hopkins saw in the classroom.
Study window
Spring 2024
East Stroudsburg Area School District, Pennsylvania. Independent evaluation by the Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University.
Finding 01 · Fluency
Greater
Students with dyslexia using Summerbell demonstrated greater reading fluency gains in spring 2024 compared to other elementary students with dyslexia in the district, in an exploratory CRRE analysis.
Finding 02 · Teacher voice
Noticeable
Teachers reported the program had a noticeable positive impact on reading fluency for most students, with specific examples highlighted in classroom observation interviews.
Finding 03 · Student voice
Easier
Most students reported the positional reading arc improved both the ease and speed of their reading.
Finding 04 · Usability
Little difficulty
Students navigated the application with little difficulty across grade levels and devices, per CRRE classroom observation.
Report
CRRE ·24
Published by the Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University. Full report available from Summerbell.
Download report
05 · In her words
Recorded, May 2026
It feels like I’m putting on glasses
and seeing clearly.
Much more clearly.
Hillary Summerbell
Founder & CEO, Summerbell · inventor of the Positional Reading Arc
Sanu.
A composite gold and silver investment platform we built with Kian Smith and Sanu. Custody architecture, consumer Flutter app, and a payments layer that settles in seconds.