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Accessibility Hackathon 2026

Build what works for everyone. Then everyone gets to work.

Open modules for Ethiopia's training platforms and job boards, built with the people who have been locked out of them. Two days at ALX Tech Hub Lideta: teams of four engineers, each with a paid co-designer who is blind, Deaf, has a disability or has lived through displacement, building for Savanna, the ALX learning platform.

Apply as a team Apply as a co-designer
  • 14 and 15 NovSaturday and Sunday, 08:30 to 18:00
    ህዳር 5 እና 6፣ 2019
  • ALX Tech HubLideta, Addis Ababa
  • 3 tracks30 teams and 40 individuals selected in each
  • 100,000 ETBto the winning team of each track
  • 8 Novapplications close, Sunday 23:59

Digital Bridge is a programme of ALX, delivered with SNV and Mercy Corps under LIWAY. The hackathon is organised by ALX with the Addis Ababa Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities and Tomorrow is Better.

የዲጂታል ብሪጅ ተደራሽነት ሃካቶን 2026

ህዳር 5 እና 6 (ኖቬምበር 14 እና 15) በALX ቴክ ሀብ ልደታ። አራት መሐንዲሶች ያሉት ቡድን፣ ከዓይነ ስውር፣ መስማት የተሳናቸው፣ አካል ጉዳተኛ ወይም የስደት ልምድ ካላቸው ተባባሪ ዲዛይነር ጋር አብሮ ይሰራል። ተባባሪ ዲዛይነሮች ለጊዜያቸው ይከፈላቸዋል። በሶስቱ ትራኮች ውስጥ ያለው ምርጥ ቡድን እያንዳንዱ 100,000 ብር ያገኛል። ማመልከቻ እስከ እሁድ ጥቅምት 29 (ኖቬምበር 8) ድረስ ይቀበላል።

የማመልከቻው ቅጽ በአማርኛ እና በእንግሊዝኛ ይገኛል፣ በድምጽ መመለስ ይችላሉ፣ እና የጊዜ ገደብ የለውም።

እንደ ቡድን ያመልክቱ እንደ ተባባሪ ዲዛይነር ያመልክቱ

Why this, why now

On 21 October, forty people who are blind, Deaf, hard of hearing, live with a physical or learning disability, or arrived in Addis as refugees and returnees spent a day with us testing how they would register for a course, follow a video lesson, ask for help and apply for a job. Most of them could not finish. Not because they lacked skill, but because the forms time out, the videos have no captions or sign language, the help is in English only, and the job boards fall apart under a screen reader.

"I do not need a special app. I need the one everyone uses to work with my phone."

A participant at the co-design session, 21 October 2026

So the brief is not to build another app. It is to build open, plug-in modules that any training institution or job-matching platform in Ethiopia can take and add to the system it already runs, without rebuilding it. The first host is Savanna, the ALX platform, for the 3,000 learners of Digital Bridge. After that, eight job-matching platforms and two regional training institutions.

Three tracks, one winner in each.

ALX

Your team picks one track at application and keeps it. Every track also builds its own piece of the career gateway, so that a graduate can use your module to find work, not only to learn. 30 teams and 40 individuals are selected per track; individuals are paired into teams at the kick-off. The winning team of each receives 100,000 ETB and a paid two-week hardening sprint with ALX engineers.

Track 1.
Accessible onboarding

For learners who are blind, have a physical disability, read with difficulty, or have no standard ID.

Registration forms are hard to fill in, time out, and block refugees who have no kebele ID or passport.

You build
A drop-in sign-up and profile component.
It must have
  • Clear labels, plain errors, no time-outs, one question per screen on a phone.
  • Voice input on every text field, with a chance to review and edit.
  • A private way to ask for support, with no medical proof.
  • Alternative ID routes: refugee ID, other documents, or "refer me" through a partner.
  • A low-literacy path: simple words, icons, and a button that reads the question aloud.
Earns extra
A partner such as AAAPD can register a learner with consent. Save and resume by SMS link.
Career gateway, also required
  • An accessible job application flow that reuses your form engine, with voice answers.
  • A private "support I need" filter for job search, with no disability disclosure.
  • An employer prompt form for listing the accommodations a job offers.

Track 2.
Accessible learning media

For learners who are Deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or on a slow connection.

Video lessons have no sign language, no Amharic subtitles, no screen-reader controls and no offline option.

You build
An embeddable video player and a transcript pipeline.
It must have
  • A player that works with the keyboard and a screen reader.
  • English and Amharic captions, with size and colour settings.
  • A movable, resizable Ethiopian Sign Language window.
  • Audio description of what happens on screen.
  • An offline pack: audio, text and light HTML for a 3G phone.
  • Tagged PDF and HTML documents with image descriptions.
Earns extra
Braille export (.brf). A viewer for recorded live sessions with captions and chat log.
Career gateway, also required
  • An accessible job card: clear layout, a generated audio summary, and it works at 200 per cent zoom.
  • Verifiable certificate links a learner can share with an employer.

Track 3.
Multilingual assistant and live help

For learners who think in Amharic, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, Somali or Arabic, or who are new to computers.

Students get stuck reading English and have no tutor in their own language and no one who can see their screen.

You build
A web and Telegram assistant with one-click escalation to a person.
It must have
  • A tutor in Amharic and English, by voice and text, that answers only from course content and cites it. No invented answers.
  • Web embed, Telegram bot, and a low-bandwidth SMS or text route.
  • A chat that announces new messages to a screen reader and handles right-to-left text.
  • One-click human help, with screen sharing the learner controls.
  • A pluggable AI layer: cloud, a local open model, or an offline FAQ.
Earns extra
A plain-language "simple mode". A teacher view of the most asked questions, without names.
Career gateway, also required
  • Job alerts by Telegram and SMS.
  • A way to request interview accommodations.
  • The assistant answers questions about jobs, not only about the course.

Every track builds on Savanna

ALX hands each selected team a starter version of Savanna, the platform our learners use every day. Your module must run inside it on day one. It must also install on any other site at one of three levels: Level 1, a single script tag; Level 2, a REST API with an OpenAPI spec; or Level 3, a standard such as LTI 1.3, schema.org/JobPosting or Open Badges 3.0. Teams get the starter and its documentation at kick-off, after the training week.

Who can apply

A team of engineers

  • Four people. ALX software engineering graduates or advanced learners, from any cohort.
  • On your own, or two or three of you? Apply anyway. Each track has 40 places for individuals, and we pair you into a team at the kick-off.
  • At least one of you writes front-end code; you will need HTML, JavaScript and a REST API.
  • All four can join the five evening trainings online, 9 to 13 November, 19:00 to 20:30.
  • All four can be at Lideta on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November, 08:30 to 18:00.
  • You pick one track and keep it.
Apply as a team

A co-designer

  • You are blind or have low vision, are Deaf or hard of hearing, live with a physical or learning disability, or are a refugee, displaced person or returnee.
  • You use a phone or computer and want to make it work better for people like you.
  • You join a team from kick-off, test their work on your own device, and sit on the final test panel. You are paid for your time.
  • Interpreters for Ethiopian Sign Language and spoken languages are provided, and the venue is step-free.
  • AAAPD and Tomorrow is Better are our partners; you do not need to be a member to apply.
Apply as a co-designer

How it works

  1. Apply. The form takes about ten minutes. It works with a screen reader, by voice, and in Amharic. You can stop and come back.
  2. Selection. 30 teams and 40 individuals per track, and the co-designers, are told by phone or email. Individuals are grouped into teams; co-designers are matched to a team.
  3. Training week. Five evenings: accessibility and co-design, WCAG 2.2 and screen-reader testing, drop-in components and APIs, offline and Amharic AI, then open office hours. Attendance is required.
  4. Day one. Kick-off, Savanna starter handed over, teams meet their co-designer and mentor, build, and show a working slice by 17:00.
  5. Day two. Build until code freeze at 13:00. Then the accessibility gate: co-designers test every module live. The teams that pass the gate present to the panel. Winners announced at 17:15.
  6. Hardening sprint. The three winning teams work with ALX engineers: security review, three rounds of testing with at least 30 testers with disabilities, integration into Savanna.
  7. Live. The modules reach 3,000 Digital Bridge learners, then the partner platforms and training institutions.

The schedule

Five online evenings, then two full days at Lideta. All times are Addis Ababa time. Breakfast, lunch and refreshments are provided on both days, with a quiet room for anyone who needs it.

Training week, online, 19:00 to 20:30

Training week, one evening per row
EveningTopicLed by
Mon 9 NovUnderstanding accessibility and co-design: the problem statements, what the co-designers told us on 21 October, how to work with a co-designer and an interpreterDr Tamrat Sultun, ALX, with the AAAPD lead
Tue 10 NovWCAG 2.2 AA and the technical standards: the 35 required features, axe-core, testing with NVDA and TalkBackALX accessibility specialist
Wed 11 NovBuilding drop-in web components and APIs: Level 1 script tag, Level 2 REST API, Level 3 standards such as LTI 1.3Senior ALX software engineer
Thu 12 NovOffline-first and localised AI: caption pipelines, offline caching, self-hosted open models in AmharicALX AI and platform leads
Fri 13 NovOffice hours: open questions, test your set-up, how to presentMentors and technical leads

Day one, Saturday 14 November, ALX Tech Hub Lideta

Day one, hour by hour
TimeWhat happens
09:00Registration. Check-in, developer kit, Savanna starter and sandbox credentials
09:30Opening by ALX leadership and partner representatives
09:45Designing for the next 3,000: what the community said on 21 October
10:15Track briefing: integration levels, WCAG 2.2 AA, the sandbox
10:45Pairing: each team meets its co-designer and ALX mentor
11:00Build block one: architecture, component frame, API schema, offline strategy
13:00Lunch
14:00Build block two: the track features, tested as you go by your co-designer
17:00Mid-point review: each team shows a working slice to its co-designer and mentor
18:00Close. Sandbox stays open overnight for those who want it

Day two, Sunday 15 November, ALX Tech Hub Lideta

Day two, hour by hour
TimeWhat happens
08:30Arrival and breakfast
09:00Build block three: finish, harden, write the README and the conformance report
12:00Lunch. Documentation freeze: Docker Compose file and sample embeds final
13:00Code freeze, then the accessibility gate: co-designers test every module live with NVDA, TalkBack, keyboard, zoom and sound off
14:30Presentations to the judging panel by the teams that passed the gate: a short live integration demo and questions, in parallel rooms per track
16:30Judges deliberate. Guest judges try the modules themselves
17:15Awards: the three winning teams, partner speeches
17:45Next steps for the winners, photos, close

How modules are judged

First, the gate. Pass or fail.

No module reaches the judges unless a co-designer completes its main task on their own, with each of: NVDA on Windows, TalkBack on an Android phone, keyboard only, 200 per cent zoom, and with the sound off. The automated scan (axe-core) must show zero critical or serious issues, and the team submits an accessibility conformance report against WCAG 2.2 AA.

Then, the score, out of 100.

  • 30
    Works for the people it is forCo-designers' own scores. Tasks completed unaided. Feedback from 21 October acted on.
  • 25
    Can be adoptedA judge adds the module to a sample site within an hour using only your documentation. More points for script tag, API and standard all working.
  • 15
    Built for EthiopiaAmharic interface and voice, Ethiopic script, Ethiopian calendar, entry-level Android on 3G, offline.
  • 15
    Quality, security and privacyTests, clean structure, data kept to a minimum, nothing leaves the host's server without consent.
  • 15
    Can be kept runningLow cost for a small institution, no lock-in to paid APIs, a README a stranger can follow.

The panel: a certified accessibility specialist, two co-designers, a senior ALX engineer, and a representative of a job-matching platform or training institution.

Questions people ask

Can I apply alone, or with two or three people?

Yes. Each track has 40 places for individuals, on top of the 30 teams. Apply with the same form and leave the other member names blank. We pair you with others in the same track before the training week, so you build as a team of four on the day.

I am not an ALX graduate. Can I join?

This round is for ALX software engineering graduates and advanced learners. If you are a developer with a disability, you are welcome to apply as a co-designer and tell us you also code.

What does a co-designer actually do?

You are a member of the team, not a tester at the end. You join the kick-off, say what works and what does not on your own phone or laptop, and run the final test at the gate. You are paid for your time, and interpreters are provided.

Do I need to prove my disability or status?

No. We ask what support you need so that we can arrange it. We never ask for medical or legal documents, and we never ask about your history. Everything you tell us stays with the organising team.

What happened to the career gateway track?

It is now part of every track. Earlier drafts had a fourth track for an accessible job board. We folded it into the other three so that every module helps a graduate find work, not only learn: Track 1 builds the job application flow, Track 2 the job card and certificate links, Track 3 the job alerts and interview requests. Each track lists its career gateway items above.

Who owns the code?

Code built at the hackathon is released under the open licence ALX names at kick-off. ALX and its programme partners may use, adapt and publish it. Your team is credited by name in the repository.

What happens to my application data?

It is used only to run this hackathon, is seen only by the organising team, and is deleted after the event, as required by Ethiopia's Personal Data Protection Proclamation No. 1321/2024.

Is the venue accessible?

ALX Tech Hub Lideta has step-free access on the ground floor, a lift, quiet rooms, Ethiopian Sign Language interpreters on both days, and backup power. Tell us in the form what else you need.

Is there food?

Yes. Breakfast, lunch and refreshments on both days, with a quiet space for eating.

Ask the team

Anything not answered above? Ask here. The organising team answers within a day, and the answer appears on this page for everyone. Leave a phone number or email only if you want a direct reply.

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