LOCAL WINNER
Beginner Awards: Disruptive technology
Disability focused OS
Solution details
OS with built-in AI for disabled users. Focus on accessibility and simplicity. Milestones: research needs, design accessible architecture, build core UI with screen reader and speech recognition, add AI voice/predictive text and multimodal translation, then deploy and iterate. Resources: time and funding. Success measured by task speed and OS stability.
Tweet / Slogan
Our OS is specially designed for a wide range of disabilities, whether cognitive, physical, or mental, ensuring that even the most challenged of individuals can experience the joy of the internet, as well as videogames, music, and pretty much anything else without having to worry about their disability affecting their experience
Električari Banderaši
Resources
Supporting materials showcasing the concept, design, and accessibility features of the Disability-Focused OS.
Context
Many people with disabilities struggle to use computers because existing operating systems are not designed with their needs in mind. Accessibility tools are often limited, hidden, or difficult to set up, which creates barriers in learning, communication, and digital independence. Our solution addresses this challenge by providing a fully accessibility-focused operating system with built-in multimodal input, adaptive AI assistance, and simplified interface modes. By integrating assistive tools into the core of the OS, not as add-ons, we make digital education and computer use inclusive, intuitive, and available to users with cognitive, physical, or speech-related difficulties. This aligns directly with the DigiEduHack theme of “technology for accessibility.”
Who Benefits?
The primary target group includes people with a wide range of disabilities, such as cognitive, physical, speech-related, and learning difficulties. They benefit from an OS that requires no advanced setup, includes built-in assistive tools, and adapts to their abilities. The AI assistant provides simplified language, predictive text, speech recognition, and multimodal translation, making computer use easier and more intuitive.
Secondary beneficiaries include educators and families who support learners with disabilities, as the OS enables independent learning, safer internet use, and easier access to digital materials. Overall, the system reduces the technological barriers users face and increases their digital literacy and confidence.
Impact
The expected impact is improved computer accessibility, faster task completion, and easier learning for users with disabilities. The AI assistant adapts to each user through changing sentence length, complexity, and explanation style, allowing students with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or learning challenges to understand material more easily. The OS enables equal access to digital education, entertainment, and communication.
Impact can be measured through:
• task completion time (navigation, typing, searching)
• reduction in errors and OS conflicts
• user satisfaction and independence
• stability and performance of assistive modules
This system empowers users to learn, explore, and participate in digital life without barriers.
Team work
Our team consists of three members: Vuk Jovanović, Stefan Turudić, and Bogdan Bogić. Although we do not yet have the full technical expertise to build a complete OS, we are determined to acquire these skills through IT education and future studies. Technology is our shared passion, and we work extremely well together.
We created this solution through collaborative brainstorming, combining our ideas, strengths, and motivation to help people with disabilities. We plan to continue working as a team, improving our knowledge and eventually turning this concept into a real, functional OS. Our teamwork, creativity, and shared vision make us the right group to pursue this challenge.
Innovativeness
Unlike mainstream operating systems that offer limited accessibility settings, our solution is the first OS built entirely around accessibility from the ground up. Instead of optional tools, accessibility features form the core of the system. It includes multimodal input/output switching, predictive AI assistance, real-time speech↔text↔sign-avatar translation, simplified interface modes, and adaptive learning support.
While existing OS platforms help only certain disability groups, ours aims to support as many as possible within a unified, integrated system. The innovation lies in its deep integration of assistive technologies, adaptive AI personalization, and the ability to tailor the entire OS experience to each user.
Transferability
The solution can be used in various learning environments, especially where users struggle with traditional systems. Beyond disability-focused contexts, the simplified modes are ideal for beginners, elderly users, or children with no computer experience. Schools could use the OS to support inclusive digital classrooms, while training centers can use it for basic computer education.
The AI assistant’s adaptive explanations, screen-reading tools, multimodal switching, and simplified UI concepts can be transferred to educational platforms, mobile systems, or digital learning applications. Many elements, such as speech-guided navigation or progressive feature reveal, can be implemented in other software or devices.
Sustainability
The long-term plan is to develop a functional prototype, distribute it widely, ideally for free, and continue improving it through updates and user feedback. After the initial prototype, the priority is optimization, stability, and expanding multimodal input tools. Long-term sustainability can be supported through collaboration with accessibility organizations, open-source contributions, and educational grants.
As the system matures, continuous testing, bug fixes, and adding new assistive features will keep it relevant. The vision is for Doors OS to become a reliable, long-term solution that grows with its user base and remains accessible to everyone regardless of disability or technical knowledge.