Chrome Extension · 2025
TextTally - Text Analysis Extension
Browser extension for instant text analysis that helps writers, researchers, and content creators with word counts, readability scores, and keyword insights.
The Idea Behind TextTally
TextTally emerged from a simple observation: while creating content for marketing clients, I found myself constantly switching between various tools to analyze text. I needed word counts, readability scores, and keyword density in one place.
This fragmented workflow was costing me valuable time, so I decided to create a browser extension that would provide all these metrics instantly with just a right-click.
Key Features
- Comprehensive word and character counts (with and without spaces)
- Estimated reading time calculation
- Flesch-Kincaid readability score and grade level assessment
- Keyword frequency analysis for content optimization
- Sentence length metrics with alerts for overly complex sentences
- Privacy-focused design with all processing done locally
Development Challenges
Building TextTally presented several interesting technical challenges. I needed to create an extension that was lightweight yet powerful, with a clean UI that wouldn't distract users from their writing flow.
The most significant challenge was implementing accurate readability metrics in JavaScript. I extensively researched linguistic algorithms to ensure TextTally's analysis was accurate and helpful for real writing scenarios.
User-Centered Design
TextTally's interface was designed with simplicity in mind. I utilized a clean, intuitive layout with teal and coral accent colors that make data easy to scan while ensuring accessibility.
The extension works through a simple context menu - select text, right-click, choose "Analyze with TextTally," and instantly get comprehensive metrics in a clean popup interface.
Privacy and Performance
From the outset, I was committed to building TextTally with a focus on privacy. All text analysis happens directly in the user's browser - no data is ever sent to external servers or stored anywhere. This not only protects user privacy but also ensures the extension works quickly without network latency.
I also optimized the extension's performance to ensure it processes text instantly, even for longer documents, without impacting browser performance.