Microsoft Immersive Reader — Free AI Reading Support Built on Dyslexia Research

Immersive Reader is a free reading-support tool built into Microsoft Word, OneNote, Teams and Edge, and offered separately as an Azure AI service, first released as part of Microsoft's Learning Tools in 2016. It reads text aloud with synchronised word-by-word highlighting, breaks words into syllables, widens letter and line spacing, limits the number of words per line, and lets users choose a page-colour overlay — features aimed primarily at readers with dyslexia, ADHD, autism or low vision, as well as early readers and people learning a new language.
Microsoft documents its design choices against named, peer-reviewed research: Zorzi et al. found extra-large letter spacing improved reading in dyslexia; Schneps et al. (PLOS ONE) measured a 27% increase in reading speed from short line lengths; Tai et al. found a 10% increase in reading comprehension for adults given syllable breaks; and a 2017 RTI International study of fourth-graders found a 10-percentage-point improvement in reading comprehension. Microsoft's Garage 'Wall of Fame' reports more than 23 million people using its Learning Tools, including Immersive Reader, every month.
The evidence has an important limitation: the cited studies mostly validate individual design features (spacing, syllabification, line length) in isolation, in academic settings, rather than the integrated Immersive Reader product as deployed at scale; Microsoft has not published an independent, controlled outcome evaluation of the tool itself, and the 23-million-user figure is self-reported usage, not measured learning impact.

Read the full analysis: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/immersive-reader