A4 Purple Overlay

Make print clearer. Reduce glare. Support comfortable reading.

A4 Coloured Overlays are designed to make printed text easier and more comfortable to read for children and adults who experience text related visual discomfort or reading difficulties. They are intended as an accessibility adjustment, not a reading intervention.

The full A4 size allows the entire page to be viewed at once, making these overlays particularly useful for worksheets, information sheets, music notation, and extended texts. They may also be easier to handle than smaller reading rulers for younger children, older students, or individuals with coordination difficulties. Overlays can be cut in half for use with smaller pages.

 

 

$8.00 per single Purple Overlay
$32.00 for 5 Purple Overlays

*Please note the colour shown in the picture may not be an exact representation of the colour in real life.

Designed for clarity and comfort.

  • Matt finish on one side to reduce glare and reflected light.
  • Gloss finish on the reverse for those who prefer it.
  • Maintains print clarity while improving visual comfort.

 

Research by Apple and Microsoft has influenced the inclusion of coloured tints as accessibility features in tools such as iPads, iPhones, and Microsoft Immersive Reader, highlighting their value for reading accessibility.

 

How coloured overlays may help

Some children and adults experience text-related visual discomfort when viewing high-contrast, repetitive patterns, such as black text on a white background.  This can include glare, eye strain, headaches, or text appearing blurred, unstable, or difficult to look at for long periods.

For a some people, placing a coloured overlay over the page can:

  • Reduce visual discomfort or glare.
  • Make text feel easier to look at.
  • Help with reading stamina or tolerance.

 

Who might find overlays useful?

Coloured overlays may be helpful for:

  • Children or adults who complain of eye strain or headaches when reading.
  • People who find high contrast print uncomfortable.
  • Readers who say text looks too bright, shimmery, or hard to focus on
  • Readers who experience fatigue when reading.

 

 

Coloured overlays: what they can (and cannot) do

Dyslexia is a lifelong difference in how the brain processes written language. It cannot be cured, and coloured overlays do not treat dyslexia or change core reading skills such as decoding, spelling, or phonics.

Coloured overlays are best understood as a comfort and accessibility support, not a cure.

 

Alignment with Australian education and inclusion frameworks

The use of coloured overlays as an optional accessibility support aligns with Australia’s inclusive education obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, which require schools to provide reasonable adjustments so students with disability can access learning on the same basis as their peers.

Providing coloured overlays as a choice-based environmental adjustment supports students who experience text-related visual discomfort, helping to reduce barriers to accessing printed materials. This approach is consistent with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which encourage flexible options for how information is presented to meet diverse sensory and perceptual needs.

Coloured overlays are not a treatment for dyslexia and do not replace evidence-based literacy instruction. Instead, they may be offered as a low-cost, non-invasive adjustment to improve visual comfort and engagement for a subset of learners, alongside appropriate teaching, intervention, and support.