How does the TIER app work?

The TIER app aims to automate the simplification of complex English text for non-native and neurodivergent English speakers.

We at ForwardNLP chose text simplification because it encourages users to improve their English skills and helps them comprehend advanced English text. Instead of just replacing difficult words in a sentence, TIER builds an entirely new sentence from the ground up, reducing the sentence’s grammatical complexity.

TIER is designed to make everyday use as easy as possible, especially when educational resources are not readily available. The user can take a photo of complex English text with their mobile phone’s camera, and text scanning features within the app automatically convert the photo to selectable text that the user can request to be simplified by the app. To further improve English learning, users can set the “tier”, or level of simplification they prefer, and the app uses AI to build a simplified text based on the level of simplification set by the user. The app also allows the user to access simple English definitions for any word a user selects to be defined.

Future development will include a web extension allowing users to access the simplification tool directly within their browser.