The story
A new platform. More than two decades of experience.
For more than two decades, Vision-Aid has worked with persons with visual disabilities to enable independence, education and employment. Ability Bazaar is the next chapter: a new platform able to draw on Vision-Aid's deep experience, trusted relationships and vast network across the United States and India to scale quickly.
Meet the Ability Bazaar team
The people building Ability Bazaar - across Vision-Aid USA and India, research, and AI development.
-
Vijay Francis
Advisor, Vision-Aid India
Vijay is a technology leader with over 25 years in IT and a strong focus on technology for social impact. As an Advisor at Vision-Aid India, he leads strategic initiatives in digital accessibility, AI and assistive technology - empowering persons with visual impairments through accessible digital skills, accessibility engineering and inclusive solutions.
-
Vikram Goddla
AI Developer
Vikram is a rising junior at Harvard University with a strong focus on AI. He has conducted research in artificial intelligence in medicine at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, including published work on using large language models to improve cancer clinical-trial materials, and brings that AI expertise to the Ability Bazaar platform.
-
Yashvini Goddla
President, Binary Mayhem
Yashvini is a rising senior in high school and president of Binary Mayhem, where she is committed to proving that anyone can understand and use artificial intelligence. She has taught Python and AI to blind students in Uganda, helping make emerging technology more accessible to learners who are often excluded, and hopes to keep expanding access to AI education through inclusive, hands-on learning.
-
Harish Hariharan
Executive Director, Vision-Aid India
Harish is the Executive Director and head of Vision-Aid India. He brings over three decades of leadership across Microsoft, AWS, IBM and other leading technology companies, as well as the nonprofit sector - spanning sales and business development, partnerships, programs and operations, digital skilling, and livelihood creation for persons with disabilities.
-
Ram Raju
Founder & Executive Director, Vision-Aid USA
Ram is the Founder and volunteer Executive Director of Vision-Aid USA and one of its founding directors in 2004. He holds a Master's in Computer Science from Penn State and an ALM from Harvard Extension School, with over 30 years leading large, complex IT projects. In 2019 Harvard honored him with the Derek Bok Public Service Award.
-
Santosh Vempala
Advisor · Professor, Georgia Tech
Santosh is a professor of computer science at Georgia Tech, where he founded the Algorithms and Randomness Center in 2006 and started the Computing-for-Good (C4G) program in 2008. His research spans algorithms, high-dimensional geometry and the foundations of machine learning. He has volunteered with Vision-Aid since 2005.
-
Jeffrey Zhou
AI Developer
Jeffrey is a rising junior at Harvard University studying Computer Science and Mathematics, and has previously interned at Amazon Web Services. His career interests center on building scalable AI applications with real impact in healthcare and clinical contexts - expertise he brings to the Ability Bazaar platform.
-
Arunkumar
Technical Lead, Vision-Aid Advanced Technology Center
Arunkumar is a Technical Lead at Vision-Aid with over eight years of experience building AI-based solutions to real-world problems, spanning full-stack development, DevOps and mentoring aspiring AI engineers. Arunkumar leads the Vision-Aid Advanced Technology Center team, which designs and builds AI solutions for internal process automation and for external clients - driving efficiency, innovation and measurable impact. Beyond that work sits a deep commitment to the empowerment of visually challenged individuals, and to aligning technical skill with initiatives that create meaningful, accessible impact for that community.
The proposition
Ability Bazaar is a global, accessibility-first marketplace where persons with disabilities and mixed creator teams use AI App Builder Agents to translate lived-experience problems into practical AI mini-apps. Each tool is delivered through a common accessible shell, validated by PwD users, and made available to individuals, institutions and employers. Vision-Aid's SEP AI Tutor serves as the anchor offering; the long-term scale engine is a trusted creator economy.
New platform, proven foundation
Ability Bazaar came online in July 2026, but it did not start from zero. Vision-Aid brings more than twenty years of listening to, learning from and delivering programs with persons with visual disabilities. That experience—and a broad network of learners, graduates, accessibility professionals, volunteers, educators, institutions and partners—gives Ability Bazaar the reach and practical knowledge to grow responsibly and quickly.
It rolls in DATTC
Our Digital Accessibility Testing and Training Center has sold accessibility testing for years - real customers, real revenue, real PwD professionals. Ability Bazaar becomes its storefront, and DATTC becomes the bazaar's proven services engine.
It rolls in the AI Development Center
Our newest initiative has already shipped the SEP AI Tutor and built Arohi and Nidra. Ability Bazaar becomes the front end to distribute and monetize these apps - and every app that follows.
Accountable, by design
A marketplace is judged on proof, not promises. Ability Bazaar captures evidence from day one - orders delivered, revenue earned, wages paid to experts with disabilities, and accessibility issues fixed.
Honest framing
We publish what we measure. Ability Bazaar is worth building in its own right: it aligns with what Vision-Aid already does, and extends it - turning lived experience into livelihood.
The roadmap
-
Today:
Two engines already running
DATTC has delivered paid digital accessibility testing for years, with an established customer base and an AI testing tool co-built with Georgia Tech. The AI Development Center has shipped the SEP AI Tutor and the Arohi and Nidra apps.
-
Phase 1:
One accessible storefront
Roll DATTC and the app portfolio into a single Ability Bazaar front end - this platform - so anyone can buy accessibility services or pilot an app from one place.
-
Phase 2:
Marketplace MVP
Creator onboarding, the AI App Builder, PwD validation workflow, analytics, institutional access and evidence logs - plus 3-5 new mini-apps in the launch catalogue.
-
Phase 3:
Scaling the commercial backbone
Ability Bazaar is open for business today, operated by Vision-Aid. As order volume grows, we are putting in place the operating structure to scale contracts, commerce and creator payouts across the US and India.
-
Phase 4:
Open marketplace
Approved creators publish free or paid tools and earn revenue share - a durable marketplace with real users, real revenue and AI-native operations.
Nonprofit ownership
A Vision-Aid program on its own domain
Ability Bazaar and abilitybazaar.com are owned and operated by Vision-Aid, Inc., a United States 501(c)(3) public charity. The separate domain gives this disability-led technology program a clear, accessible home; it is not a separate company or unrelated commercial business.
Ability Bazaar directly advances Vision-Aid's charitable mission. It combines training, accessible technology and livelihood creation so people with disabilities can participate as learners, creators, accessibility experts and paid professionals. Revenue from its mission-related services supports delivery, training and paid work within that program.
Legal operator and contact: Vision-Aid, Inc., 8 Vine Brook Road, Lexington, Massachusetts 02421, United States · info@visionaid.org · (781) 333-5252.
Visit Vision-Aid's nonprofit website, where Ability Bazaar is also announced as a Vision-Aid initiative.
Open for business
A real marketplace, today
Ability Bazaar is open for mission-related work as a program operated by Vision-Aid, a 501(c)(3) public charity with more than two decades of experience working with persons with visual disabilities. The platform can immediately leverage Vision-Aid's established network while every delivered order creates skilled work for experts with disabilities.
Backed by supporters, too
Mission-related earned revenue helps Vision-Aid sustain the platform and create training and livelihood opportunities. Organisations can grow the talent pool through a training sponsorship of $300 that puts one student through deep 1×1 AI and accessibility training over 3-6 months, with cohort bundles up to a full 18-student cohort for $5,000. It is an invoiced workforce-development engagement with defined deliverables, not a donation. Explore training sponsorships, or if the mission simply inspires you, make a gift of any size.
Follow one order through the bazaar
The full lifecycle of a provisioned transaction - and where the Google pieces plug in at every step.
-
You choose the service
Buy the $199 automated scan of up to 200 public pages with a focused blind/low-vision expert review, choose a $500 or $1,000 website or app launch package, or request a custom quote for deeper work.
Runs on Google Cloud Run · payment via PayPal/Stripe
-
Intake & scoping
The Intake and Scoping agents structure your request and confirm scope and price.
Gemini agents · every decision logged
-
ABLE scans your site
Our ABLE engine crawls the pages in scope and runs automated WCAG 2.2 checks.
axe-core on Cloud Run · triaged by Gemini
-
Report prepared
The Report Drafting agent turns raw findings into a clear, prioritised report draft.
Gemini agents · evidence retained for expert review
-
Expert review
For the $199 scan, a blind or low-vision expert validates up to 20 highest-impact distinct findings and performs focused checks on 3 key public pages. Custom engagements can add comprehensive manual and assistive-technology testing.
Bounded lived-experience review · deeper custom options
-
Delivery & follow-up
You get the deliverable included in your order; invoicing and follow-up run automatically.
Gemini agents · evidence stored in Firestore
You meet our agents at the front door - the intake and scoping agents process every request you send, and you can try them live in the AI Studio. The rest work behind the scenes; every action they take is logged and auditable.
AI-native by design
Six AI agents are designed to run the platform in production - from need discovery to evidence capture.
-
Intake Agent
Structures every customer request the moment it arrives - requirements in, actionable record out.
-
Scoping & Quoting Agent
Sizes the work and prices it from the rate card - a real pricing decision, made in production and logged.
-
WCAG Scanner Agent (ABLE)
Runs automated WCAG 2.2 scans with our ABLE engine, then triages and prioritizes every finding.
-
Report Drafting Agent
Turns automated findings into clear reports and remediation guidance; custom human-reviewed work is then routed to an expert.
-
Expert Scheduling Agent
For custom human-reviewed scans and builds, routes each draft to the right expert with a disability for lived-experience verification.
-
Invoicing & Follow-up Agent
Assembles deliverables, invoices, tracks payment and handles customer follow-up.