Starting in 2024, WA disability services social enterprise Intelife began working with UWA student interns through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship, exploring the potential for harnessing artificial intelligence to help more efficiently create accessible documents for people with disabilities.
Five students have worked with Intelife on the Easy Read Document Generator, with Nithin Varghese, a Master of Data Science student, now on-board to continue developing the application through Semester One. Nithin is working alongside Cheng Li, an Advanced Computer Science student and 2024 intern who has returned as a casual employee with Intelife to support the project.
Brendan Spencer, General Manager Technology and Digital Innovation with Intelife, said that Cheng and Nithin, along with Adib Rohani, Nick Chong and Rishon Jose, had been able to provide new perspectives on what was possible, as the organisation sought to address an area of need.
“We have seen how people with intellectual disabilities have been left behind in the digital age. We’ve been able to engage some talented IT-focussed students as interns to develop this project, which will have real benefits for people we work with, and a very real potential to have an impact nationally or even globally,” Mr Spencer said.
“Easy Read is a general approach to making written documents accessible to people with intellectual disabilities, as well as others with literacy challenges. It has clear use cases for things like terms-of-service or complex product disclosure statements that people may struggle with, but it can be used for any kind of text-based document.
“The interns working on our Easy Ready Document Generator have developed a working prototype that demonstrates how technology can reduce barriers and allow organisations with limited resources to create Easy Read documents,” he said.
PDF or Microsoft Word documents can be input into the Easy Read generator interface, which currently takes approximately 10-15 minutes to analyse the document using a state-of-the-art technique called retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and output a simplified and condensed version as a Word file.
The RAG process interfaces with large language model (LLM) tools like ChatGPT, but improves the accuracy and consistency of outputs from these technologies.
Cheng and Nithin are working to ready the software for the next stage of deployment, which will see it tested internally by Intelife staff.
“The software uses LLM and RAG technology in a process that is similar to how a human would create an Easy Read document; it makes sense of the text and simplifies it, extracting the vital information,” Cheng said.
“It can also use generative AI tools to create graphics and illustrations based on the information to further increase accessibility. The aim is that this automation will be able to save time and resources by completing roughly 80 percent of the Easy Read creation process, with human users then checking, editing, and adding the finishing touches. It is very exciting to be delivering the generator ready for test use by Intelife.”
With plans to test the software internally first, before sharing it with external organisations for further trials, Mr Spencer said that the organisation had high hopes for the impact that the Easy Read generator could have far beyond their usual scope of service.
“Intelife mostly works with people across the Perth metro area, however we are embracing opportunities to be forward-thinking and take non-traditional approaches to support people with disabilities however we can, including through technologies which can reach beyond our service area,” he said.
“We are excited about the huge potential benefits of this project and we will be exploring possibilities to further develop the generator ourselves, or to work with a partner who can help it reach its full potential.
“We have also had the privilege of introducing some outstanding students to the possibility of using their skills to benefit the community. They have helped us achieve what we couldn’t have otherwise, while working on a truly worthwhile project; these students may never have considered work in the not-for-profit sector without this experience,” Mr Spencer said.
For Cheng Li, working with Intelife has provided new understandings of the potential positive applications of technological change for people affected by disability or disadvantage.
“It has been a really meaningful experience to contribute my knowledge and expertise to increasing the capacity of an organisation that works for the benefit of people with disabilities,” Cheng said.
“I have gained new perspective on issues I hadn’t considered before, like systemic inequity in accessibility, and I understand that my work can make a difference for improving people’s lives in an increasingly tech-heavy world.”