Beyond the fundamentals
Wonderful organizations, led by brilliant people, provide a phenomenal foundation for blind and low-vision individuals to live, learn, work, and travel independently. Libre Access starts where that foundation ends. Their curricula aren’t built to cover the advanced techniques and concepts clients need once they’re ready to go further, so we build the tools and training for the advanced, atypical experiences that most curricula don’t reach.
We serve blind and low-vision individuals ready to go further, and the practitioners who guide them there including Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialists, Teachers of the Visually Impaired, Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists.
When possible, accessibility should be free of cost. But more than that, it should be free of friction, free from the barriers that turn what should be possible into something effortful. As blind and low-vision people, we work with what we have; when a tool doesn’t adapt to our needs, we don’t give up, we find another way. Libre Access exists to make that path a little wider.
Focus areas
Orientation & Mobility
Not just the familiar neighborhood, campus, or workplace, O&M extends to unfamiliar cities and the great outdoors. There’s a gap for blind and low-vision explorers and adventure seekers who want to participate in tourism, hiking, paddling, fishing, and beyond.
Research & Development
Many blind and low-vision people already know how to use a screen reader, screen magnification, or a refreshable braille display. Far less exists on how to use them to make the research and development lifecycle itself accessible.
Makers & Hackers
Inspired by our own love of tinkering and DIY, we want to be a jumping-off point for blind and low-vision hobbyists ready to roll up their sleeves and dive into self-hosting, programming, and making.
How we get there
Training and workshops
In-person and remote sessions to demonstrate tools, services, and techniques in O&M, R&D, and DIY.
A living resource reference
We’re building a living resource reference, curated in collaboration with the community.
Co-designed Solutions
Apps and extensions to solve real-world problems in O&M, R&D, and DIY, made by us, for us.
Aziz N. Zeidieh
Aziz is a PhD candidate in Informatics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, researching navigation technologies and transportation solutions for blind and low-vision explorers — spanning orientation and mobility, artificial intelligence, and usable security and privacy. His published research includes work on AI-assisted wayfinding, accessible virtual reality, and data visualization for blind and low-vision users, presented at ASSETS, the leading venue for accessible computing research. He holds an M.S. in Cybersecurity from DePaul University and a B.A. in Communications from Northern Illinois University.