xi/simple-alternative

browser extension to detect simple language alternatives

simple alternative - browser extension to detect simple language alternatives

This extension

This extension adds a big round button to your browser. It will try to detect a link to a simplified version of the current page in the current language. When you click the button, the simplified version is loaded.

A link to a simplified version should look roughly like this:

<a href="…" rel="alternate" hreflang="en-simple">Go to simple version</a>

The simple language variant tag

The simple language variant tag has officially been included in the IANA Language Subtag Registry. It intended meaning is "to represent a generic simplification of a root language".

This could be useful for a lot of people:

• children
• people with cognitive disabilities
• second language learners

Among other things, it can be used to conform with Success Criterion 3.1.5 in WCAG 2.0:

When text requires reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level after removal of proper names and titles, supplemental content, or a version that does not require reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level, is available.

Future

The simple language variant tag is still new and has not seen a lot of adoption. This extension is merely a proof of concept. I would like to see this kind of functionality directly in browsers one day.

simple-alternative's Issues

What is the licence for the project?

May I ask you to add a licence to the project? To me, the absence of a licence does not signal "You are free to use this code in any way you like" but "I'm not going to tell you what the licence is; reuse the code at your own (legal) risk". If your goal is to allow widespread reuse of your code, you may consider very liberal licences such as Apache 2.0, the MIT license or the 3-Clause BSD License.

For background, see also Choose a License and Pick a License, Any License.