Freshworks celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2024

Freshworks recently celebrated the 13th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) at its Chennai office, showcasing how accessibility awareness and assistive technology can drive inclusivity.

The event featured Ashwin Saravanan, a blind student from the Karna Vidya Foundation; Justin Jesudas, a para-athlete and head of operations at IIT Madras Research Park; and Srinivasu Chakravarthula, Freshworks’ director of product accessibility. Representatives from Karna Vidya, which offers career guidance and technology training for the visually impaired, and the Enability Foundation for Rehabilitation showcased the diverse benefits of their approaches to assistive technology.

“At Freshworks, we pride ourselves on building products that are accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. Our mantra is simple: Inclusive products drive value and improve usability for everyone,” said Chakravarthula. “Assistive technology can bridge gaps that many don’t even realize until they see the profound impact these tools can have—by making our jobs easier.”

Ashwin Saravanan: A tech-savvy scholar

Ashwin and his mother honored by Shyam Anandaram, senior director of social impact at Freshworks.

Ashwin Saravanan shared his journey as a visually impaired student, starting from tinkering with a brailler—a typewriter for the visually impaired—at the age of 3, to recently excelling in his 10th-grade exams with the aid of a laptop.

“I haven’t been easy on him, providing only the most necessary tools. We’ve often had fights. But he has risen to the challenge and deserves all his success,” said Ashwin’s mother, Hemavathi Saravanan. 

Read also: Championing product inclusion at Freshworks 

Saravanan credits the Karna Vidya Foundation for helping him learn to work with computers. By fifth grade, he could use a laptop independently and earned the Rotary Club's Young Champion Award in 2019. During the pandemic, he mastered screen-reading software and joined Bookshare, an online library of accessible ebooks.

Now in 11th grade, Ashwin has set his sights on pursuing a degree in environmental sciences.

Enability Foundation: Bridging gaps with assistive technology

An Enability Foundation member demonstrates assistive technology.

Following Ashwin Saravanan’s story, members from the Enability Foundation, a nonprofit incubated by IIT Madras, took the stage to showcase their arsenal of assistive technology solutions for marginalized and disadvantaged communities. 

“Our foundation develops solutions for motor, visual, hearing, and speech impairments, aiming to enhance education, communication, employment, daily living, and rehabilitation,” shared Kasthuri G, a software developer at the foundation. 

The nonprofit offers a range of products, including picture-to-speech software for kids, a web tool for creating digital lessons, access switches for those with motor impairments, and a convenient braille note-taker.

Shifting the narrative on disability

Justin Jesudas takes the stage to share his journey with disability and assistive technology.

The keynote speaker, Justin Jesudas, took the stage and pushed back against the notion that “disability means lesser ability,” arguing that society's low expectations perpetuate this misconception. He stressed that “disability is about restrictive environments, not individuals.” 

Jesudas, who uses a wheelchair, shared his experiences traveling, competing in sports, and advocating for accessibility. He said that a flat surface enables him, whereas stairs disable him, highlighting environmental barriers as the real issue.

Jesudas highlighted that roughly 1 billion people globally have disabilities, and excluding them comes at a steep economic cost. He argued that the cost of inclusion is minimal. 

“Diversity, in my opinion, is inviting everyone to a party, inclusion is asking them to participate, and equity is providing everyone with the right means for participation, like a ramp instead of stairs,” he said.

He shared his story of overcoming paralysis from a car accident through sheer determination to regain independence. 

“Inclusion must be felt intuitively and viscerally, not just understood intellectually,” Jesudas said. “We need to shift the narrative around disability and create equitable opportunities for people with disabilities to fully engage in society.”