Council Speech-Enables Its Website with BrowseAloud

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 16:21

Recognising the need to provide equal access for all, Hobsons Bay City Council has implemented BrowseAloud, an innovative text-to-speech solution from Texthelp Systems.

With programs such as ‘Access for All Abilities’ and the ‘Gold Access Awards’, Hobsons Bay City Council has demonstrated a sound understanding of the broader needs of its citizens. With the addition of BrowseAloud to the website, it has significantly improved access to its website for those people who find it difficult to read and understand online content.

BrowseAloud reads website content aloud and highlights each word as it is spoken. This combination is of particular benefit to those with learning and literacy difficulties, dyslexia, mild visual impairments and to those for whom English is a Second Language.

BrowseAloud is provided free-of-charge to web users via a one-time download. By simply hovering the mouse over the text to be read, visitors to Hobsons Bay City Council’s website can hear all of the website content read aloud.

Nigel Cunningham, International Manager at BrowseAloud adds,

“Hobsons Bay City Council is a shining light for those who were previously unable to reap the benefit of the online services provided to them by their government. We are delighted to welcome them to the growing community of BrowseAloud users worldwide.”

BrowseAloud has been adopted by almost 3,000 organisations worldwide and is the service of choice for local governments across the UK. The most recent edition of BrowseAloud comprises a number of advanced features such as text magnification, a talking dictionary, text-to-MP3 conversion and a unique design which enables users to have accessible PDFs, Word documents and secure websites read aloud.