While the world’s been using Generative AI (GenAI) to help them manage their jobs and businesses more efficiently, Swindon Borough Council have been focusing on how GenAI can be used for positive societal impact. In a brilliant collaboration with a group of local Swindon residents who are Experts by Experience of a Learning Disability, Swindon Borough Council, supported by AWS have harnessed the power of Generative AI to aid independence for the learning disability community. "Simply Readable" is an innovative co-created solution that converts complex documents into the accessible Easy Read format. This project is not just about technology; it's about making a real impact in people's lives and Swindon are open-sourcing this solution, license-free, worldwide, enabling "Simply Readable" to redefine accessibility for an inclusive world.

This is one of a number of solutions we have created and open sourced, license free to support our communities, our peers and beyond, in each of these we have significantly reduced cost and time, whilst meeting quality standards. Our Machine Translation solution, launched a year ago, is now in use throughout the UK, Europe and further afield (UAE, Latin America); it was recently used by a neighbouring authority, with support from us, during a critical incident, providing information in minutes vs. the hours for their existing service. The interest in this solution, Simply Readable is already gaining traction despite only being announced at the end of November 2024, we have been contacted by multiple Local Authorities, LOTI, ONS and a number of Learning Disability charities and not for profits. It has been developed by those with a Learning Disability to ensure it meets the needs of individuals. In the UK, there are 1.5M people with a learning disability, in the US 44.2M, globally it’s estimated 15% of the population, 4.1M people across England and Wales have English as a second language, 7.1M adults in the UK have ‘very poor’ literacy skills and 850,000 in the UK have a cognitive impairment, the right to accessible information is established in law and this solution has the potential to help so many.