“We know that disabled people are best served by the product becoming a success in the mainstream, because that keeps the volumes up and the costs down, as well as minimizing any stigma around the product,” explains Ross Atkin, whose urban design firm, Ross Atkin Associates, has created inclusive everyday inventions like street lights that brighten based on individual needs, clearer signage for construction zones, and an app that shows when public elevators are out of service.

Atkin is also working to make robotics more accessible with his Kickstarter-funded Crafty Robot and his new Smartibot kits. And although you won’t see this called out on the Smartibot project page, which is live on Kickstarter now, the product is also a scalable, cost-friendly toolbox that helps people living with disabilities to build customized assistive technology.