Spotlight on Hable: Digital accessibility for blind and visually impaired individuals 🚀
We’re happy to shine a light on Hable, one of the startups from our Foundership program! Hable is on a mission to make digital communication accessible for blind and visually impaired individuals, by creating user-friendly, inclusive tools.
Why Hable is making waves ✨
Hable isn’t just about accessibility; it’s about fostering genuine inclusion in our increasingly digital world. At its core, the Hable One is a revolutionary Braille keyboard. It’s designed to make typing and controlling your screen reader faster and easier for blind and visually impaired people. The Hable One specifically operates smartphones and tablets. It’s compact enough to fit in a pocket, connecting seamlessly to any device and enabling complete control without ever needing to touch your phone. With Hable One, you can send messages, write emails, and browse the web using simple, familiar Braille taps, all while keeping your phone securely in your pocket.
The Hable One is especially useful for those with visual impairments in these groups:
- Braille users: Type faster and more efficiently using familiar Braille commands.
- Travelers: Keep your phone safely stowed while navigating with ease, wherever you go.
- Those who find touchscreens challenging: Experience simple, intuitive control without the hassle of complex gestures.
Today, over 3,000 users rely on the Hable One every day, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. It’s trusted, loved, and ready to help you stay connected. This innovative approach simplifies complex digital interactions, empowering users with greater independence and connection. The platform has the potential to significantly impact various sectors, from education and healthcare to everyday communication for the visually impaired community.
A Story of Impact: Isaac’s Transformation 💡
It’s hard to pick just one, but a story that truly stands out is that of Isaac. He was only 10 years old when he received a Hable One for Christmas. Isaac had been really struggling in school, both socially and with his studies, largely due to his visual impairment. With his Hable One, he gained the confidence to join his classmates on social media, play games on his phone with them, and even use it to take notes in class and do his homework. According to his parents, he became a different person, allowing him to connect and make friends for the first first time in his life. This truly demonstrates the power of accessibility and connection.
The journey from an idea like Hable One to empowering thousands of users often involves significant support. How has being part of an ecosystem like the one fostered by UtrechtInc helped accelerate your mission of digital inclusion?
Entrepreneurship in itself is challenging, combining that with a challenging domain and high focus on impact does not make this any easier. An ecosystem like UtrechtInc assists in many ways. Connecting with entrepreneurs who are several steps ahead of you can help you spot problems before they occur, so you don’t make them. It also gave us access to an incredible amount of resources, from legal expertise to funding expertise to expert founders. This is something you can only get done, at this speed, through this program.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Hable in terms of expanding your reach and impact? How do you envision continuing to revolutionize accessibility and empower even more individuals?
There is so much to do to positively change the lives of people who are visually impaired around the globe. Currently, we are focused on launching our new product, which assists visually impaired people in labeling items around them through smart tech. On a more long-term approach, we want to create a whole new segment in our market, of assistive technology that solves real problems, is affordable, and is simple to use. This is where we see the biggest need on a global scale.
Targeting a specific audience of visually impaired individuals, how did Hable, as a startup, approach understanding the needs of its users to ensure product adoption and impact?
Over the last years, we have had the privilege to talk to an incredible number of customers, testers, and others in our target audience. As a founder, I still talk to customers every single day. Nowadays, the feedback comes directly to us. Our audience is very vocal; any message we send out, we receive hundreds of replies. This allows us to validate new concepts extremely fast and makes sure we focus on building the right things.
‘’Entrepreneurship in itself is challenging, combining that with a challenging domain and high focus on impact does not make this any easier. An ecosystem like UtrechtInc assists in many ways. Connecting with entrepreneurs who are several steps ahead of you can help you spot problems before they occur, so you don’t make them. It also gave us access to an incredible amount of resources, from legal expertise to funding expertise to expert founders. This is something you can only get done, at this speed, through this program.’’ Luuk Jansen, Co-founder at Hable
What’s next for Hable? 🚀
Looking ahead, there’s so much more to do to positively change the lives of visually impaired people around the globe. Hable is currently focused on launching their new product, which assists visually impaired people in labeling items around them through smart tech. In the long term, they want to create a whole new segment in the market: assistive technology that solves real problems, is affordable, and is simple to use. This is where they see the biggest need on a global scale.