Fewer Barriers

Our story

A small experiment. A better question.

It started as a small piece of HTML people could use on their own websites. Years later, a difficult reading task gave the old idea a new purpose.

Why it came back

I needed the tool myself.

Ciarán Paul Roche

I was trying to read my son’s thesis. I often find myself racing towards the end of long or dense writing without properly absorbing what I have read. I have never had much patience for books, and sometimes I need help slowing down and staying with the words.

That experience showed me what the old project could become. Read at your pace reads text aloud and presents it in manageable parts without summarizing or changing the words.

I made it available for free because it may help other people too.

Where it began

The honest version

Years ago, I built a small HTML experiment called Free Text to Braille Converter. It accepted ordinary text, displayed Unicode Braille characters, spoke the text, offered a high-contrast view, and could print the result.

People could copy and paste the code into their own websites. That small, useful and shareable idea is still at the heart of Fewer Barriers.

  1. 01 · The sketch

    Make it useful and easy to share

    The original was plain HTML. You could understand it quickly, copy it and put it to work. That directness still matters.

  2. 02 · The decision

    Admit when the old answer is dated

    The prototype mostly substituted print characters with Unicode Braille patterns. Real transcription is governed by systems such as Unified English Braille, with separate considerations for contractions, mathematics, music, and other material.

  3. 03 · The product now

    Let a real need reveal the next tool

    Struggling to stay with my son’s thesis made the next barrier personal and obvious. Read at your pace helps a reader slow down, listen and follow the original words at a manageable pace.

What survived the pivot

The original idea was still right.

What Fewer Barriers is now

Seven tools. One purpose.

Fewer Barriers is my built-for-good home for simple tools that make an awkward, overwhelming or hard-to-start moment easier to get through. Every tool is free to use.

01 · Reading and focusRead at your paceStay with the original words, one manageable part at a time.02 · Everyday overwhelmFreedom From ClutterOne useful, bounded household job. Not the whole house.03 · Difficult decisionsBen Franklin CloseTen private questions for a clearer Yes, No or Not Yet.04 · Calls and memoryKeep the ThreadPrepare a call, capture what was agreed, and confirm it in writing.05 · Instructions and memoryStep by StepFollow the original instructions one manageable part at a time.06 · Clear requestsHelp Me AskKeep the facts and the thing you need in a clear, copyable message.07 · Confusing processesEnsnarledA checked first step, official source, right contact, and plain words to use.

A tandem build

Built in tandem. Kept human.

Fewer Barriers is designed and built in tandem by Ciarán and Napper, the name he gave his AI collaborator. Napper helps with research, design, code and testing. The lived need, judgment, privacy boundaries and responsibility remain human.

The longer-term aim is a private, user-directed AI agent for access: one calm place that can offer the right tool for a task. That agent has not been built yet. Any future AI feature must be clearly labeled and ask before private text leaves a device.

Use the reading tool