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This is a prototype vision of how a future government service could work. It's not a real service yet, but we're exploring what it could look like. Your feedback will help shape the real service.

Step 2: Select Council Announcement - Text-to-Speech Walkthrough

Choose a sample announcement to convert to audio

Walkthrough progress

Step 2 of 4 • 1 minute

Step 2 1 minute

Select a Council Announcement

Choose from four sample council announcements representing different communication needs.

Find your Text to Speech application URL in CloudFormation Outputs
The application is ready to convert text into natural speech

Expected outcome

  • You've reviewed all 4 sample announcements
  • Selected one that matches your council's communication needs
  • Copied the announcement text
  • Pasted text into Polly interface (ready for Step 3)

Choose your announcement

We've prepared 4 realistic council announcements covering different priorities and use cases. Pick the one most relevant to your council's needs:

Paste into Polly

After copying your chosen announcement:

  1. Return to the Polly console tab

    Switch back to the browser tab with Amazon Polly open (from Step 1)

  2. Clear the text input area

    Delete any test text from Step 1 so the input area is empty

  3. Paste the announcement text

    Use Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac) to paste. The announcement should appear in the text box.

  4. Verify character count

    Below the text input, you should see "X characters" matching the expected count for your chosen announcement (e.g., 427 characters for bin collection changes).

Why character count matters: Amazon Polly charges £0.016 per 1000 characters for neural voices. A 500-character announcement costs £0.008 (less than 1 penny). Knowing the character count helps you estimate costs for your council's announcements.

Understanding announcement categories

Service Disruption (e.g., Bin Collection Changes)

  • Frequency: Weekly or bi-weekly
  • Urgency: Standard (24-48 hours notice)
  • Best voice: Amy (conversational, friendly)
  • Typical length: 300-500 characters
  • Delivery channels: Website, email alerts, phone hotline

Emergency Alert (e.g., Weather Warning)

  • Frequency: Rare (a few times per year)
  • Urgency: Urgent (immediate action required)
  • Best voice: Brian (authoritative, clear)
  • Typical length: 400-600 characters
  • Delivery channels: Website banner, phone hotline, social media, SMS

Committee Announcement (e.g., Planning Meeting)

  • Frequency: Monthly
  • Urgency: Standard (7-14 days notice)
  • Best voice: Emma (formal, professional)
  • Typical length: 500-700 characters
  • Delivery channels: Website, legal notices, email to stakeholders

Public Health (e.g., Vaccination Clinics)

  • Frequency: Seasonal or campaign-based
  • Urgency: Standard (ongoing information)
  • Best voice: Amy or Emma (reassuring, informative)
  • Typical length: 400-600 characters
  • Delivery channels: Website, community centers, phone hotline, posters

Think about your council

Reflection prompt: Which type of announcement does your council publish most frequently?

Consider whether you publish more:

  • Routine service updates (bin collections, road closures, library hours)
  • Emergency alerts (weather, public safety, service outages)
  • Formal committee notices (planning, licensing, consultations)
  • Public health information (vaccinations, health campaigns, environmental health)

Understanding your mix helps estimate ROI - if you publish 50 service updates and 10 emergency alerts per year, text-to-speech saves 60 × £200 = £12,000 annually vs studio recording.

Troubleshooting

Copy to clipboard button not working

If the copy button doesn't work:

  • Manually select the announcement text (click and drag to highlight)
  • Use Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac) to copy
  • Check browser allows clipboard access (some browsers block this for security)
  • Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari all support clipboard API)
Character count in Polly doesn't match expected

If character count is different:

  • Check you pasted the full text (not just part of it)
  • Verify you didn't accidentally include extra spaces or line breaks
  • Small differences (±5 characters) are fine - formatting may vary slightly
  • If significantly different (>10 characters), re-copy and re-paste

Once your chosen announcement text is pasted into Polly, you're ready to generate audio with different voices.

Need help?

If you're stuck, check the troubleshooting section or contact us.