First of all, what is EasyRead/Lectura Fácil?
EasyRead is a way to present a text in a simple and accessible way for every reader while maintaining its original meaning. At first, it was designed to offer people with intellectual disabilities a way to access information. However, nowadays it has been proven how beneficial EasyRead can be for other users, such a people with dyslexia, learning difficulties or even foreigners and other people who can't understand the target language completely.
In order to adapt a text into EasyRead we have to follow some basic rules in order to simplify the syntax and the vocabulary without losing its meaning and context. The list of rules is rather extensive, but after all what matters is the common sense: aim for simplicity. If you want to find out more about the EasyRead rules, you can visit the EasyRead Guide at the website of the New Zealand's Office for Disability Issues.
Note to the reader: simplifying a text isn't as easy as it may seem. It goes beyond translating and adapting a text. You can see an example of my personal work in the following link:
If you have read the PDF file you surely have noticed that some words are in bold and that they are followed by a short explanation, or how images are sometimes used to show important concepts or to guide the reader through a list of steps. Those are important and useful elements that facilitate the work of your readers and they are advised anytime a concept can't be simplified or explained in just a few, simple words.
But the crucial, key factor in EasyRead is that even when you think the text has been fully adapted, you still need to validate it. In order to validate a text, it has to be checked by a group of expert validators, people with intellectual or reading disabilities whose work is to correct the adaptations and to validate them once they consider the texts are fully understandable. Only then can you add the EasyRead logo to your document.
So what about AI? All aboard the Chat GPT Bandwagon?
Even though I'm still sceptical about many aspects of the AI and I consider it to be a topic to discuss (and there's lots to discuss, because its implications are bigger than we can imagine at the moment), I do believe Artificial Intelligences such as ChatGPT could be used for a good cause, such as creating EasyRead adaptations of texts.
So before any further ado, I went straight to Chat GPT to test it! In order to find out whether it could simplify a text, I decided to use precisely the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 2, the paragraph about "Communication", and here are the results:
Me: Give me an EasyRead version of the following text: “Communication” includes languages, display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plain-language, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology."
ChatGPT: "Communication" refer to the ways that people share information with each other. This can include speaking and writing in different languages, using text and symbols that can be understood by people with vision impairments, using special technology to help people with disabilities communicate, and using different formats (like audio or large print) to make information easier to understand. It can also include using technology, like computers, to help people communicate and access information.
If we analyze this output we can conclude that ChatGPT does indeed simplify the text and it is obvious it could be of great help to make information more accessible. However, it does not follow the EasyRead rules, and that means texts adapted using the current version of this particular AI will not be properly adapted for people in need for real EasyRead adaptation... YET.
And yet is the key. Soon we will have better developed tools that will automatically translate complex texts into more accessible versions. Thanks to those future versions people who can't understand our languages properly or those who have reading or intellectual disabilities will benefit from them and enjoy a better access to information.
Hopefully soon!
Sources and further reading:
AI creates texts for people with reading difficulties. Linköping University.
Automated text simplification. Center on Inclusive Software for Learning. CAST.
Simplish: Intelligent Summary.
AI simplify my sentence tool
The rights of people with disabilities. EasyRead version of: Rights of person with disabilities Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. (A/HRC/49/52)
Artificial Intelligence and Accessibility: Examples of a Technology that Serves People with Disabilities. Inclusive City Maker.
Easy Text Artificial Intelligence. Helping all of us understand what we read. EasyText.AI
What is Easy Read? PhotoSymbols.
Easy Read. Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.
Information for all. European standards for making information easy to read and understand. Education and Culture DG. Lifelong Learning Programme.
Making written information easier to understand for people with learning disabilities. Guidance for people who commission or produce Easy Read information - Revised Edition 2010. Department of Health. Office for Disability Issues. HM Government,
Easy Read. Online Accessibility Toolkit. Government of South Australia.
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