AudioNews - AI-Powered News Digests for Accessibility

Professional audio news service for visually impaired users • English, Polish & personalized content • Daily updates • Zero cost

🌐 audionews.uk • Updated daily at 6 AM UK time

🎙️ Podcast RSS Feeds:

• English (UK)
• Polish
• BellaNews

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🎯 What It Does

Converts news headlines into natural-sounding audio digests using AI analysis and Microsoft Edge TTS. Designed specifically for visually impaired users who need accessible news content.

Key Features

• 3 Active Services:
  • English (UK): General news digest
  • Polish: Polish news digest (excluding Radio Maria)
  • BellaNews: Personalized business/finance news for investment banking & VC interests
• AI-Enhanced: Claude 4.5 Sonnet analyzes and synthesizes content from multiple sources with context-aware generation to avoid repetition
• Premium Voices: Natural neural voices via Microsoft Edge TTS
• Accessible: WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, screen reader optimized, designed for blind and partially sighted users
• Podcast Distribution: RSS feeds available for Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms
• Automated: GitHub Actions generates and deploys daily
• Copyright Compliant: Synthesizes original summaries, never copies articles
• Cost Optimized: Only essential languages enabled to minimize API costs

📁 Project Structure

audio-transcription/
├── scripts/              # Python scripts
│   ├── github_ai_news_digest.py      # Main generator
│   ├── generate_podcast_rss.py       # Podcast RSS feed generator
│   ├── update_website.py             # Website updater
│   ├── update_language_website.py    # Language page updater
│   ├── create_all_language_pages.py  # Page generator
│   └── add_language.py               # Add new language
├── config/               # Configuration
│   ├── ai_prompts.json               # AI prompts & model settings
│   ├── voice_config.json             # Voice & TTS settings
│   └── README.md                     # Config documentation
├── docs/                 # GitHub Pages website
│   ├── en_GB/, pl_PL/, bella/       # Active language pages
│   │   ├── podcast.rss              # RSS feeds for podcast platforms
│   │   ├── audio/                   # MP3 audio files
│   │   └── index.html                # Language-specific pages
│   ├── images/                       # Podcast artwork (1400x1400px)
│   ├── shared/                       # Shared assets
│   └── index.html                    # Main entry
├── templates/            # HTML templates
├── archive/              # Old/unused files
└── .github/workflows/    # CI/CD automation

🚀 Quick Start

Local Development

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Setup git hooks (optional but recommended)
./scripts/setup-git-hooks.sh

# Generate digest for English, Polish, or BellaNews
python scripts/github_ai_news_digest.py --language en_GB
python scripts/github_ai_news_digest.py --language pl_PL
python scripts/github_ai_news_digest.py --language bella

# Update website
python scripts/update_website.py

GitHub Actions Setup

1. Enable GitHub Pages (source: main branch, /docs folder)
2. Add secret: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
3. Workflow runs automatically daily at 5:00 UTC (6:00 AM UK)
4. Cost Optimization: Only English, Polish, and BellaNews are generated by default. Other languages are disabled in the workflow to minimize API costs.

🔧 Configuration

AI prompts and voice settings are externalized to JSON files for easy updates:

• config/ai_prompts.json: System messages, analysis/synthesis prompts, model settings
• config/voice_config.json: Voice configurations, TTS settings, retry logic

See config/README.md for detailed documentation.

🔍 Code Quality & Linting

Pre-commit Hook

The project includes a git pre-commit hook that automatically checks code quality before commits:

• ✅ Python syntax checking: Validates Python files for syntax errors
• ✅ JSON validation: Ensures JSON configuration files are valid
• ⚠️ Code quality warnings: Warns about trailing whitespace and tabs

Setup:

./scripts/setup-git-hooks.sh

The hook runs automatically on every commit. If errors are found, the commit is blocked until they're fixed.

What it checks:

• Python syntax errors (using py_compile)
• JSON file validity
• Trailing whitespace (warning only)
• Tab characters (warning only)

Bypassing (not recommended):

git commit --no-verify  # Skip pre-commit checks

🍴 Forking & Customization

Want to create your own customized news service? Here's how:

1. Fork the Repository

Click the Fork button at the top of this page to create your own copy.

2. Set Up Secrets

In your fork, go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions and add:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = your_anthropic_api_key_here

Get your API key from Anthropic Console.

3. Customize AI Prompts

Edit config/ai_prompts.json to change:

• System messages (tone, style, instructions)
• Analysis prompts (how stories are categorized)
• Synthesis prompts (how summaries are generated)
• AI model settings (temperature, max tokens)

4. Customize Voices

Edit config/voice_config.json to:

• Change voices (browse Microsoft Edge TTS voices)
• Adjust retry logic
• Configure TTS settings

TTS providers: The digest supports edge_tts (default), pocket_tts (local, English), and elevenlabs. Use --tts-provider elevenlabs and set the ELEVENLABS_API_KEY environment variable (get keys at ElevenLabs). Voice IDs and options are in config/voice_config.json under tts_settings.elevenlabs.

5. Customize News Sources

Edit scripts/github_ai_news_digest.py:

• Modify LANGUAGE_CONFIGS to add/change news sources
• Change greetings, themes, or output directories

6. Enable GitHub Pages

1. Go to Settings → Pages
2. Set Source to main branch, /docs folder
3. Set custom domain (optional)

7. Test Your Changes

# Test locally first
python scripts/github_ai_news_digest.py --language en_GB

# Check the generated files
ls docs/en_GB/audio/

8. Deploy

Push to main branch - GitHub Actions will automatically:

• Generate daily digests at 5:00 UTC
• Deploy to GitHub Pages
• Store audio files in Git LFS

🤝 Contributing

Pull requests are gratefully appreciated! Help improve this project:

Areas for Contribution

• 🌍 New languages - Add support for more regions
• 🎤 Voice improvements - Better voice selection or quality
• 🤖 AI enhancements - Improved prompts or analysis
• ♿ Accessibility - Better screen reader support
• 🎨 UI/UX - Design improvements
• 📚 Documentation - Clearer guides
• 🐛 Bug fixes - Report or fix issues

How to Contribute

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Commit with clear messages (git commit -m '✨ Add amazing feature')
6. Push to your fork (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

Contribution Guidelines

• Keep accessibility as the top priority
• Maintain copyright compliance
• Test changes locally before submitting
• Document new features in README or config files
• Follow existing code style
• Add comments for complex logic

All contributions, big or small, are valued and appreciated! 🙏

⚖️ Copyright & Ethics

This service synthesizes original content from multiple news sources:

✅ Creates transformative summaries through AI analysis
✅ Provides accessibility service for disabled users (fair use)
✅ Never copies substantial portions of articles
✅ Respects paywalls and access restrictions

See docs/COPYRIGHT_AND_ETHICS.md for complete legal framework.

📜 License

Source Code

The source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL v3) - see LICENSE file for details.

This means:

• ✅ You can: Use, modify, and distribute the code
• ✅ You must: Keep the same license (GPL v3) for any derivatives
• ✅ You must: Make source code available when distributing

Generated Content

All generated audio content, transcripts, and news digests are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0).

• ✅ You can: Share, adapt, and use for non-commercial purposes
• ❌ You cannot: Use for commercial purposes or sell the content

See CONTENT_LICENSE.md for full details.

🌍 Adding New Languages

1. Add voice configuration to config/voice_config.json
2. Add AI prompts to config/ai_prompts.json
3. Add language config to scripts/github_ai_news_digest.py
4. Run python scripts/create_all_language_pages.py

🎙️ Podcast Distribution

AudioNews generates RSS 2.0 feeds for each service that can be submitted to podcast platforms:

• English (UK): https://audionews.uk/en_GB/podcast.rss
• Polish: https://audionews.uk/pl_PL/podcast.rss
• BellaNews: https://audionews.uk/bella/podcast.rss

Features

• ✅ RSS 2.0 compliant with iTunes/Apple Podcasts extensions
• ✅ Automatic updates - New episodes added daily
• ✅ Full transcripts included in episode descriptions
• ✅ SEO optimized with keywords for blind and partially sighted users
• ✅ Artwork included - 1400x1400px podcast covers

Publishing to Platforms

1. Spotify: Submit RSS feed at Spotify for Podcasters
2. Apple Podcasts: Submit at Apple Podcasts Connect
3. Other platforms: Most platforms accept RSS feeds automatically

See docs/PODCAST_SETUP.md for detailed publishing instructions.

Automatic RSS Generation

RSS feeds are automatically regenerated daily when new content is published. Each feed includes:

• Last 50 episodes (RSS best practice)
• Episode metadata (titles, descriptions, dates)
• Audio file URLs
• Full transcripts in episode descriptions
• Podcast artwork and branding

📊 Tech Stack

• AI: Anthropic Claude 4.5 Sonnet
• TTS: Microsoft Edge TTS (neural voices, +10% speed adjustment)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions
• Hosting: GitHub Pages
• Storage: Git LFS for audio files
• PWA: Service Worker + manifest
• Podcasts: RSS 2.0 feeds with iTunes extensions

📞 Support

• Live Service: audionews.uk
• Podcast Setup Guide: docs/PODCAST_SETUP.md
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Organization: Dynamic Devices

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© 2025 Dynamic Devices • Open Source • Made with ♿ accessibility in mind