What is Hackcessible?
Hackcessible is an Assistive Technology innovation incubator that has been running since 2018!
It entails of a series of workshops and an annual make-a-thon that brings together engineers, designers, computer scientists, students, and others to collaborate with individuals with disabilities and create workable products that support their needs.
What makes us different?
We want to put end-users at the heart of the make-a-thon, inviting them to lead the project as co-designers and to participate in every aspect of Hackcessible, from the workshops to the make-a-thon, to ensure we design products that are useful and effective in solving everyday challenges.
Why take part?
- You are guaranteed to learn and apply new skills.
- A golden opportunity to build a great network and make new friends.
- Gain experience in turning concepts into actions.
- You’ll have built something by the end of the weekend! It may not be completely finished but you should have an early prototype solution to present.
- Make a difference and change lives.
- You could get external recognition – be part of something that may be considered for commercialisation.
- Win prizes and funding
History and Inspiration
Sheffield is a city of makers with a tremendous history of technology talent and ingenuity. We are a group of students, academics, and innovators from the most forward-thinking institutions and organizations in this city with a deep passion for developing technology for good. We firmly believe that science, engineering, and design should be used to make the world a better place for all.
Inspired by events like the AT-Hack at MIT and the popular BBC program “The Big Life Fix”, we successfully delivered our first disability-focused make-a-thon – Hackcessible 2018 from December 1st to 3rd. This event commemorated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and resulted in the creation of eight new prototypes to address eight very different accessibility challenges. Examples range from making the performance of live music more accessible for musicians with visual impairments to developing a discrete exoskeletal arm support for individuals with mobility challenges. Hackcessible teams are redefining how we accelerate innovation in Assistive Technology.
Hackcessible 