Hackcessible is the UK’s First Student-Led Assistive Technology Make-a-Thon, and has been run by University of Sheffield staff and students for more than 7 years. Our aim is to promote innovation for accessibility and bring together students, charities, and industry partners to co-design real world solutions for individuals with disabilities.
We’d love for you to collaborate with us by either providing a challenger or mentor, sponsoring our events, donating materials or connecting with our students through networking opportunities. Please read below for more details! Alongside our main Hackcessible programme, we are also interested in exploring opportunities to work with schools or organisations. We would like to introduce young people to assistive technology, engineering and inclusive design, and show them how engineering can be used to solve real-world problems and improve people’s lives. We are currently exploring the possibility of running school visits or interactive activities and would be interested in speaking with schools or organisations that may be keen to collaborate with us. If this is something your school or organisation may be interested in, please get in touch and we would be happy to discuss what might be possible.
About Hackcessible
Inspired by the At-Hack event at MIT and the BBC program ‘Big Life Fix’, Hackcessible was founded in 2018 by University of Sheffield staff. What slowly started as a staff-led project soon became a student-led project with 12 teams and more than 100 participants, aiming to create as many solutions for accessibility as possible.
Hackcessible brings together students from a wide range of disciplines to design and develop innovative solutions that improve accessibility. Each year, teams of 6-8 students collaborate with mentors and industry partners to support a ‘challenger’, an individual from the community looking for a practical solution to a specific accessibility need.
The project runs for several months each year and is divided into two key phases:
1. Design Phase
Teams work closely with their challenger and mentor to conceptualise and develop a tailored solution. Weekly 2 hour workshops are given to teams to aid them through this process.
2. Manufacturing Phase
Over two days in the iForge, which is the UK’s first student-led makerspace here at the University of Sheffield, teams build a working prototype, which is then presented during the final showcase.
In addition to this, Hackcessible aims to make a global impact. In 2024, Hackcessible India was founded and this competition brought together 40 schools from across India to co-create designs that foster accessibility. More recently, students from the Aga Khan University and Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, ran their own version of Hackcessible, with projects such as a custom phone experience that helps meet various communication needs and assists those with sensory overload.
Past Project Example:
Ruqaya’s Challenge
At the time of the challenge, Ruqaya was a blind 5 year old girl who wanted some help learning how to read. Ruqaya’s team built the LunarTouch, which helped Ruqaya to learn the alphabet using moon letters.
It works with the moon letters being protruded out of the tiles, and with a radio frequency identification tag (RFID) underneath the tiles. These are then read by the readers inside the block. As the readers detect the RFID and recognise the tile, they produce an audio feedback of the phonetic sound of the letter.
The device worked so well that Ruqaya was able to identify her friends during circle time at school. The team who developed it got the Summer Creator Grant from Emerge, which is an enterprising community here at the University of Sheffield, which allowed them to continue working on the project, as they looked into using braille.
To see more examples of past projects, please see the following booklet: Hackcessible 2026 – Join Us!
Why Work With Us?
Impact: Your work creates genuine impact. From community initiatives to innovative solutions, you’ll contribute to something bigger than yourself — and see the results of your efforts in the real world!
Visibility: As a sponsor, your logo will be prominently displayed on our online content, team apparel, and promotional materials. You’ll gain exposure, not only within the university, but also among the wider scientific and engineering community around the world.
Student awareness: Our team members will be going into future graduate jobs, joining companies such as your own or others. By supporting us, you enable these future professionals to learn valuable skills and become advocates for your products or services in their future careers.
Valuable Connections: Engage with challenges, mentors, charities and like-minded organisations through mentoring, workshops, events and the final showcase. These connections can lead to future collaborations, recruitment opportunities and knowledge sharing.
How Can You Help?
Provide Challengers: A ‘challenger’ is an individual / carer / family member / friend of an individual with an unmet need that relates to a disability that they may have. Our students will address the challenge by designing and creating a customised prototype to meet the unmet needs.
If you are interested in being / providing a challenger, please complete the following google form: https://forms.gle/UvNZh95seatRjtfJ6
Provide Mentors: A mentor is an individual who will support and empower teams throughout the project. They will assist by providing feedback, encouraging effective teamwork and help teams stay realistic with their project scope and timeline.
If you are interested in being / providing a mentor, please complete the following google form: https://forms.gle/4A23NzDsXQfzbEqs6
Financial Sponsorship: Your financial support will directly fund our project as a whole, helping us cover essential expenses, as well as funding the individual teams’ projects.
If you are interested in providing a financial sponsorship, please reply to this email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
In-Kind Donations: If your company can provide materials, components, or expertise, we would greatly appreciate it. Whether it’s hardware, design advice, or software support – every contribution matters!
If you are interested in providing an in-kind donation, please reply to this email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Networking Opportunities: We value partnerships beyond financial support. If you would like to engage with our participants, we can arrange workshops, guest talks, or site visits.
If you are interested in a networking opportunity, please reply to this email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please let us know if you have any questions and we look forward to hearing from you!
Kind regards,
Dhruti & Latisha
Hackcessible Lead & Secretary
hackcessible@sheffield.ac.uk
