A new personalized way to read The Texas Tribune

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Editors' note: This partnership ended on Dec. 23, and the aLayer tool is no longer available on The Texas Tribune site.

The Texas Tribune is partnering with aLayer, a research organization studying how people use the internet. ALayer’s new filter tool is available on our site starting today, and it’s designed to help Tribune users personalize their reading experience.

It’s easy to get started: Click here, or click on the brain icon in the bottom right-hand corner of any page in our site. After you register, you can select the three topics you’re most interested in and aLayer will curate your daily reading experience via email or text message. You can also enable the aLayer tool for any Tribune story by clicking on the brain icon.

ALayer founder Christina Mace-Turner said users can think of this project as an adventure in customizing your access to the information that matters most to you. Users can also customize the design of their reading experience, including selecting the fonts they prefer.

“We’re trying to create a more inclusive and accessible internet,” Mace-Turner said. “We want people to start feeling more comfortable with information being presented in ways that are optimized to them.”

ALayer and the Tribune agree that people think, learn and explore content differently, and we’re working together to create tools that honor your individual preferences and reading style. However, the data we collect during this trial period will be completely anonymized. ALayer won’t keep your personal details beyond those needed to create your account and deliver the settings you select. Plus, your preferences will not be linked to your Texas Tribune membership account in any way.

This tool will be available on the Tribune’s site for three months. Our findings from the partnership will help us prioritize our audience’s needs as we prepare to redesign and refresh our site in 2025.