ReadSpeaker

Municipality of Rijswijk

The algorithm converts written text on the council’s website into natural speech. This supports residents with visual or reading impairments and contributes to digital accessibility.

Last change on 31st of July 2026, at 11:43 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Other algorithms
• Impact assessment: Field not filled in.
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Organisation and business operations

Begin date

2019-01

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The algorithm converts written text on the local authority’s website into natural speech. This improves the accessibility of information for residents with visual or reading impairments.

The algorithm does not influence decision-making; it is solely an accessibility support feature.

Considerations

The use of ReadSpeaker directly contributes to a legal obligation of the local authority: to make the local authority’s website accessible to people with a visual or reading impairment, in accordance with the Digital Government Act and the Equal Treatment Act on the grounds of disability or chronic illness. Without a text-to-speech function, these residents would not have sufficient independent access to municipal information.

This benefit is balanced against a limited privacy risk: when using the service, technical data (such as IP addresses) may be processed by the supplier. This risk is limited in nature, is covered by a data processing agreement with the supplier and does not outweigh the public interest in digital accessibility. No substantive or sensitive personal data is processed, and no profiling or automated decision-making takes place.

Based on this assessment, the use of ReadSpeaker is proportionate: the contribution to accessibility and legal compliance more than outweighs the limited and manageable privacy risks.

Human intervention

Not applicable.

The speech is generated automatically when a user clicks the ‘Read aloud’ button. There is no human assessment or control involved.

Risk management

1. Privacy risk: minimal to none; no personal data is processed.
2. Technical risk: possible temporary unavailability of the read-aloud function in the event of malfunctions.
3. Measures: monitoring by the supplier; availability included in regular website management processes.

Legal basis

The legal basis for the use of ReadSpeaker lies primarily in the obligation to make digital government information accessible and in the local authority’s public duty to provide information that is understandable and usable for all residents, within the framework of data protection legislation.

Links to legal bases

• Digital Accessibility Act (Wdo): https://www.digitaleoverheid.nl/overzicht-van-alle-onderwerpen/wetgeving/wet-digitale-overheid-wdo/
• Decree on Digital Accessibility in the Public Sector: https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stb-2018-141.html
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): https://www.w3.org/Translations/WCAG21-nl-20200526/

Operations

Data

The algorithm does not itself process any personal data relating to the visitor’s content.

The input consists solely of publicly available text on the local authority’s website.

Output: Synthesised audio played aloud in the user’s browser.

Technical design

1. The user clicks on the ‘Read aloud’ button.
2. The web page sends the selected text to the provider’s ReadSpeaker service.
3. The service automatically converts the text to speech and immediately delivers an audio stream to the browser.
4. No personal data or user data is stored. (This is standard operation as described by several local authorities; no unsubstantiated details have been added.)

External provider

ReadSpeaker