While the internet is a great tool for those who can read, accessing information on screen can be a formidable experience for many people.
In Australia alone, 6.2 million people have literacy and reading difficulties; 2 million people have dyslexia or specific learning difficulties; 3 million people have English as a second language; 300,000 people have a mild visual impairment; and 4 million people have a registered disability. More and more organisations are making their websites more accessible to this audience with a ‘talking’ computer program, BrowseAloud.
BrowseAloud reads website content aloud and highlights each word as it is spoken, helping visitors to the website to follow and understand text.
The organisation pays to install the software on their website, and the end user can access it free of charge from the BrowseAloud website. Visitors can then hear the words on the screen by hovering their mouse cursor over text.
The software is currently used by almost 3,000 organisations worldwide. It offers 17 voices, covering nine languages and users can also access features in the BrowseAloud Accessibility Suite, which include text magnification, a talking dictionary and the option to save text as an MP3 and listen away from the computer.
Townsville City Council installed the software on its website in November last year. Since then it has had a good uptake of users who have found the software to be very helpful.
Council’s Community Development Officer, Arthur Schulz, said although there were a few minor glitches in the beginning, such as the pronunciation of words like some place and people’s names, the program is flexible and allows for words to be edited to be pronounced phonetically.
“Using this software provides opportunities for people to access information and to be more involved in Council decision making about Council services and programs,” he said.
Other councils now using the BrowseAloud software include Hobsons Bay City Council and the City of Greater Bendigo in Victoria and The Hills Shire Council in New South Wales.
For further information visit www.browsealoud.com/au
