The Readable toolbar can be positioned anywhere on screen and oriented to fit your needs. This page covers the position, orientation and colour options on the Toolbar tab of Settings.

The Readable toolbar in colour mode: a green Play button, amber Speak Selected, orange Voice/microphone, a blue group (font, AV spacing, and the dictionary/Word Check globe), then a grey group (abc, Settings gear, the More menu, and Save to audio). The same Readable toolbar in black-and-white mode, with the same buttons drawn as monochrome outlines.
The Readable toolbar in colour mode (top) and black-and-white mode (bottom). Switch between BW, Blue and Colours styles on the Toolbar tab of Settings.

Floating mode (default)

By default, the Readable toolbar floats freely and stays on top of all other windows. To move it, click and drag the toolbar's edge or any empty area. The toolbar remembers its last position when you close and reopen Readable.

Floating mode keeps the toolbar accessible from anywhere on screen without taking permanent space from your applications.

Docking the toolbar

To dock the toolbar to the top of the screen, open the toolbar's Settings dialog and go to the Toolbar tab. Under Position, select Dock. The toolbar moves to the top of the screen and stays there.

The Settings dialog Toolbar tab showing Position options (Manual, Track Window, Dock), Colours options (BW, Blue, Colours), and Small floating toolbar / Vertical checkboxes.
The Toolbar tab of Settings. Position controls where the toolbar sits; Colours sets the visual style.

Once docked, two things happen:

  • The toolbar becomes a thin horizontal strip across the full screen width
  • The area to the right of the toolbar buttons becomes the Readable Banner — a text display panel that shows the words being spoken in real time

This is the position to use if you want the spoken text shown alongside the original document — useful for paired reading or when learners want to see the words being read in a different font, size or colour scheme.

Vertical orientation

To switch the toolbar from horizontal to vertical, tick the Vertical checkbox on the Toolbar tab of Settings. The buttons rearrange themselves into a single column.

Vertical orientation is useful when you have a wide-screen monitor and would rather keep the full vertical height of your application visible. It works in any Position mode (Manual, Track Window or Dock).

Settings reference

The Settings dialog Toolbar tab gives you direct control over:

Position
Manual (you place it by dragging), Track Window (toolbar follows your active window — see Track Window Mode), or Dock (toolbar sits at the top of the screen and the Readable Banner activates).
Colours
BW (black and white), Blue, or Colours (full colour-coded scheme with each button group in its own colour).
Small floating toolbar
Tick to use the smaller toolbar — see Small Toolbar.
Vertical
Tick to display the toolbar vertically (single column of buttons) instead of horizontally.