Digital Access Made Easy

OpenDirective provides mature development experience on projects that aim to enable people to use tech for their personal or social benefit. Projects currently include enabling people with cognitive disabilities or low digital literacy to more easily engage in online activities using digital technology and supporting musicians using tech.

Our services cover development through to consultancy and currently we are working on cognitive accessibility and Web Site development at the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. We focus on Web technologies as being most suitable for providing access to everyone.

We do this through open innovation and open source software development of assistive technology that enhances the accessibility of existing services.

MusicPracticeTools

A personal tool and experiment in using web technologies to support music learning and remote lessons. MusicPracticeTools is a blog with extended interactive tools. Built using some of the best recent tooling and services incusing Eleventy and Netlify.

Easy-build Audacity with ASIO support

Due to licensing limitations the Audacity Team cannot publish a version with Windows ASIO drivers. While many people want this version they may not have the technical skills needed to build it themselves. We have developed a script and simple instructions that make it easy for anyone to create their own Audacity with ASIO.

TWAM App for requests for charity services and back office integration

Tools with a Mission (TWAM) recycle and refurbish tools, sewing machines and computers and sends them to the developing world for livelihood creation. The App provides a mobile experience for applicants and back office system integration.

W3C Coga and WAI Website

Steve originally joined the W3C staff to help with the work on Cognitive Accessibility requirements in standards such as WCAG and supporting W3C documents. This involves working with the various Work Groups, Task Forces and Communities involved in this important and topical work. More recently, Steve has been leading the WAI website build and deployment.

Mulberry Symbols

Garry Paxton created the Mulberry Symbol set for people who use symbols to communicate with others, often via printed images on a board or an electronic AAC device. The symbols were developed to overcome the expensive licence fees of existing proprietary sets and to allow them to be used in innovate ways online. They feature unusual images aimed at adults. Garry assigned copyright over to Steve Lee who is maintaining the symbols and website. We have already collaborated with the open source cboard which uses the symbols and hope to see more uses, including the Global Symbol Dictionary.

Always In Mind

AlwaysInMind is a prototype tool for people with cognitive disabilities, like early stage dementia, and their carers. It is a web app that provides simplified access to existing services such as Google Photos and YouTube allowing relatives to stay in contact and share whilst relieving everyone's anxiety.

AlwaysInMind logo