Axis

Every interface assumes you can see it

Blind and low-vision users have been quietly working around that assumption for years, building their own systems out of labor the interface should be doing: navigation paths memorized by hand, precision the design demands, and hierarchies held entirely in memory.

And visibility isn't binary. It shifts across disability, aging, fatigue, cognitive load, even glare. The conclusion that framed the whole project: apps are for everyone, the way they're designed isn't.

Nine months of designing with, not for

The work ran from discovery (June 2025) through research, design, and prototyping (May 2026). We mapped the landscape three ways, competitors, aspirational culture, and analogous inspiration, to understand where accessible music experiences exist today, who we wanted to be, and where we could borrow patterns from outside the category.

Just as important was who we designed alongside. Through digital ethnography across r/Blind and accessibility forums, and direct co-design with blind and low-vision partners, every decision was grounded in lived experience rather than assumption.

Meet Axis

Axis is a plug-and-play solution that sits on top of any app, making it accessible by restructuring the interface in real time. It isn't a separate app or download, it lives inside the apps people already use. You open an app as usual, toggle Axis on, and the interface adapts instantly.

Small changes make a big difference

Axis doesn't redesign apps, it restructures them around a few consistent principles:

• Reduced information density and clearer prioritisation.
• A clean visual hierarchy laid out in a linear, predictable format.
• Larger tap targets and expanded tappable areas.
• High contrast, static content, and guiding text alongside every icon.
• Shortcuts to the actions people use most.

Why iOS and Spotify

To test the interaction logic without rebuilding every app, we anchored the prototype to one platform and one product. iOS gave us a common foundation, Spotify had well-documented accessibility gaps, and music streaming is a frequent, everyday activity, the right place to prove the pattern.

What users told us

In testing, the response that mattered most was that Axis felt native, chameleon-like, matching Spotify rather than bolted on top of it. And its value reached well beyond the group we started with: people with dyslexia and ADHD, anyone in bright sun, one-handed, wearing gloves, or simply overwhelmed by information density.

It also pointed to the north star. As one participant put it, the goal is “having the accessible mode by default, and people just use a normal interface.” Accessibility baked into the default, not a separate mode, with a proven path: music first, then every app.

Start at the edge. End with everyone.

Axis begins with visually impaired users and expands outward, to cognitive differences, situational limits, and ultimately everyone. The roadmap moves from one app to every app: music today, then ride-sharing, banking, and food delivery, and eventually Axis operating at the OS level.

The timing is right on four fronts, legal mandates worldwide, OS-level overlays now powerful enough to reshape interfaces live, a demographic shift where 1 in 6 people will be over 60 by 2030, and a business case where accessible products simply outperform. The model sells to apps, not users: companies integrate Axis via SDK, a few lines of code, “Powered by Axis”, paying an implementation fee plus a recurring retainer for ongoing compliance and rollouts.