Like everyone, I read a lot of text online. Like many, I have the vocabulary of a 4th grader. As such, I find dictionary extensions for web browsers a necessary tool in everyday life. I primarily use Firefox, and was surprised by the lack of well-designed word-lookup add-ons available -- even Google's dictionary extension is a mess and cumbersome to use. So, I designed and created a dictionary extension using Merriam Webster's definitions with the goals of having an unobtrusive and intuitive user interface. The project is open-source and available on the Chrome webstore and Firefox's add-on marketplace, featuring an icon designed by Desmond Kamas (the best designer).
The primary mode of interaction with the extension is integrated into the website. When you highlight text, a book icon pops up near the selection. Clicking the book brings up an overlay with the word's definition and a link to the entry on Merriam Webster. I aimed to make this as integrated into the website as possible, so as to not distract from reading and encourage quick, everyday use.
Alternatively, the extension adds a button to the browser's toolbar which can be clicked to manually look up words. This version also has a 5-word search history, for convenience.
This was a pretty fun project, since I learned how to write an extension from scratch and also got to do some neat JSON parsing of Merriam Webster's dictionary entries. Since I developed this in my free time, the extension may be a bit rough aesthetically, and the text-highlighting interaction may not work as intended on all websites.