The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (opens in a new tab) (MEAF) has awarded Ability Foundry a grant to build open-source communication and virtual reality tools that help young people with disabilities get ready for work.
Our project is called Breaking Barriers to Employment: Open-Source Accessible Technology for Workforce Readiness. It develops open-source augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and accessible virtual reality tools that support workforce readiness.
The award is part of more than $2.5 million in new and continuing grants (opens in a new tab) that MEAF announced on April 22, 2026. In total, the foundation committed $2,536,206 to 20 organizations, to be distributed over the next two years. The 2026 portfolio backs work on assistive technology, accessible digital tools, inclusive workforce development, and employer readiness, with a focus on careers in technology, advanced manufacturing, and the skilled trades.
Why this work matters
Getting a first job is hard for anyone. It is harder when the tools that everyone else takes for granted were never built with you in mind.
A young person who communicates with an AAC device should be able to take part in an interview, ask a question on the job, and speak up in a team meeting. Someone who wants to practice a new role should be able to rehearse it somewhere safe before the stakes are real. Both of those depend on software that works the way its users actually work, and too much of that software is either locked behind a high price or not accessible in the first place.
That is the gap this project addresses.
What we are building
The grant funds two connected lines of work:
- Open-source AAC. Communication tools that are free to use, free to adapt, and free to build on. No license fee standing between a person and their own voice.
- Accessible virtual reality. VR built for a wide range of motor, sensory, and cognitive needs, so it can be used to practice job skills and workplace situations rather than only demonstrated.
Everything we build under this grant is open source. Other organizations can take it, change it for the people they serve, and give the improvements back. That is the point. A tool that only works for the group that funded it is a tool that stops at the edge of one program.
About the foundation
Kevin Webb, MEAF’s Executive Director, described the thinking behind the 2026 grants:
With rapid advances in technology reshaping the future of work, accessibility and inclusion must be built in from the start. Our 2026 grants reflect MEAF’s commitment to empowering youth with disabilities with the tools, training, and confidence they need to succeed, while also supporting innovative assistive and accessible technologies that remove barriers for employers and workers alike.
The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, based in the Washington, D.C. area, was established in 1990 by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and the Mitsubishi Electric U.S. group companies. The foundation has committed more than $30.1 million to organizations that are empowering young people with disabilities to lead more inclusive and productive lives. You can learn more at MEAF.org (opens in a new tab).
We are grateful for the support, and glad to be doing this work alongside 19 other organizations pushing in the same direction.
Follow along
The code is public as we write it. If you want to use these tools, build on them, or help us test them, get in touch or find us on the developers page.