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Easy Read AI solution – Swindon Borough Council

Swindon Borough Council developed a generative AI application to convert complex documents into an Easy Read format to help people with learning disabilities understand the information.

The new Simply Readable solution is powered by AWS It presents information in short, jargon-free sentences, often with clear images to explain the content, it can be translated into 75 languages and there are hopes it could also be used to support people with low literacy levels and cognitive impairments.

Challenges

In the development and deployment of Simply Readable, several significant challenges were encountered:

  • Understanding the barriers faced by individuals with learning disabilities in making everyday decisions.
  • Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the generative AI models used in the Simply Readable application.
  • Technical complexities of integrating multiple large language models and ensuring they worked seamlessly together

Approach

A local volunteer focus group, ‘Experts by Experience of a Learning Disability’, whose members have a range of learning disabilities, has also been involved in the development.

The new Simply Readable solution uses two large language models – Anthropic’s Claude 2 for analysing and summarising documents and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion for producing images from text and prompts.

The purpose of this initiative was to create Easy Read accessible documents to support our communities and adult social care service with:

  • Equity of access for people with lived experience of a learning disability (and potential broader groups of individuals – those with low literacy, cognitive impairment, English as a second language)
  • Maintaining ongoing financial sustainability
  • Ensuring best use of social worker time
  • Meeting our legal obligations

Outcomes and benefits

Reduced the cost of producing Easy Read documents to less than 10 pence per A4 page, compared to the average cost of £120 when using a standard Easy Read service.

  • Empower individuals with learning disabilities by making information more accessible and comprehensible.
  • It now takes staff 15 minutes on average to create an Easy Read document rather than hours, or one or two weeks if outsourced.
  • The tool can be converted into 75 languages which has the potential to support millions of people globally.

“With the development of Simply Readable we’re taking a leap towards creating a more inclusive world, where everyone has equal access to information and opportunities.”

Cllr Emma Bushell, Swindon’s deputy leader,

View original case study article at swindon.gov.uk