Roughly 90% of blind and low-vision individuals live in developing countries (World Health Organization, 2011). Low-cost, appropriate technologies are crucially needed to support education, productivity, and personal expression among this historically marginalized population.

Although the Braille system of raised dots offers a medium for literacy among the early-blind, the high prices of braillers and other Braille-related technologies undermine the potential benefits. Despite its technical simplicity, Braille has never been widely accessible in the developing world. Those who are blind from a young age often remain illiterate, uneducated, and unemployed.

Tens of millions of blind children and adults worldwide would benefit immensely from access to Braille and tactile assistive devices.

This project follows two parallel strategies:
 
1. Design and dissemination of low-cost Braille and tactile assistive technologies, prioritizing distribution among early-blind youth in developing regions.
 
2. Establishing a standard set of blind-accessible prototyping methods and a network of low-cost, accessible makerspaces, where visually-impaired individuals can confidently acquire the manual and conceptual skills needed to repair household items, construct commercial-grade assistive devices, and prototype new design ideas!