Opinion

July 13, 2020

Tech is failing people with disabilities

Founders, investors, don't forget about the one billion people out there living with a disability.


Be My Eyes campaign

Whether this surreal year is remembered as a year of reckoning or resetting, one thing is certain — 2020 has drawn much-needed attention to a myriad of social and environmental issues. Yet one topic that always seems to remain cloaked under age-old societal taboos is disabilities, especially the invisible ones. Think visual impairments, deafness, autism, dyslexia, epilepsy and anxiety — where there is nothing external, like a cane or a wheelchair, that signals a disability. 

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The Be My Eyes app in use
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Bérénice Magistretti

Bérénice Magistretti is a visually impaired writer and activist working on bringing more visibility to different kinds of disabilities. Formerly a tech journalist who wrote for publications like VentureBeat, TechCrunch and WIRED UK, she is also an angel investor and startup advisor focusing on disability tech.

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