Chrome Extensions for a Clearer, Safer Web
One case study covering two Chrome extensions: a 2024 selected-text simplifier and a 2026 local dark-pattern detector.
What it helps with
Some web problems are easiest to solve in the page itself. Dense language can be simplified where it appears, and manipulative interface patterns can be pointed out at the moment a person is making a choice.
What was built
Content Simplifier sends selected text to a remote function, returns a simpler version, and replaces or highlights the selection. The newer Dark Pattern Detector takes a more private approach: it checks the local page structure, shows the category, severity, and plain-English evidence, keeps findings only for the session, and can be paused per site.
What made it different
The two extensions show an honest change in privacy design. The older tool sends the chosen text away to do its job; the newer detector stays on the page. Keeping them together makes that evolution visible instead of pretending both products had the same boundary.
A browser tool should explain what it touches, where the data goes, and how the user can pause it.
What it demonstrates
- Selected-text simplification
- Local DOM-based dark-pattern checks
- Visible evidence, severity, and per-site pause