The shortlists for the AbilityNet Tech4Good Awards have been announced, showcasing 36 finalists from around the world who are using tech to make the world a better place.

Founded in 2011, the Tech4Good Awards are organised by Abilitynet and Impact Match and supported by BT Group, eBay, HSBC, IBM and a network of not-for-profit partners.

Robin Christopherson MBE is Head of Digital Inclusion, AbilityNet:

“Fifteen years after the first Tech4Good winners were announced, this shortlist feels more relevant and important than ever. AI, mobile phones and wearables may have become part of our everyday lives, but these amazing finalists show us how we can use tech to help everyone live, learn, work and flourish in our digital world.

They come from across the world and from every kind of organisation. Charities, start-ups, schools, social enterprises, public-facing services, community-led teams and major global brands all appear here. That shows the future is not being shaped only by a handful of tech giants.

Even when a household name appears on the list, what matters is not the logo. It is the use of technology to solve a real problem in a way that feels thoughtful, practical and human.”

AbilityNet Tech4Good Awards in partnership with Impact Match logo

Tech4Good Awards Finalists 2026

The shortlists were selected from over 200 entries. The Winners will now be chosen by a panel of 24 expert judges and announced at an Awards Ceremony at IBM in London on 3 July 2026.

AI for Good Award

These finalists show AI at its most useful and most humane, turning a technology that can feel abstract or intimidating into something that supports safety, fairness, recovery and independence.

MARS Project: Using AI to rebuild language skills after a stroke

A thoughtful use of AI that helps clinicians understand stroke-related language disability more quickly, creating more space for the care and encouragement that can help people rebuild communication and confidence.

Innervation’s Multi-Agent Ableism Debiaser

Canada-based Innervation uses AI to catch ableist language before it causes harm, showing that automation can be used not just to move faster, but to think more carefully and treat people with greater respect.

Aidos: Child identity protection against AI deepfakes in visual media

Takes on one of the most unsettling risks in the current AI landscape by helping schools protect children’s identities, offering a practical response to a fast-growing challenge around trust and safeguarding.

.lumen – Glasses for the Blind

Applies advanced AI to something deeply human by helping blind and visually impaired people move through the world with more confidence, freedom and ease.

 

Digital Accessibility Award

These finalists show that accessibility is not an add-on. It is what determines whether people can join in fully with everyday life, culture and public services.

SignUp: Sign Language for Media Platforms

Brings sign language into mainstream online media in a way that opens up culture, entertainment and shared conversation to d/Deaf viewers.

Nemonic Dot: Making labelling more accessible

Makes braille labelling easier in everyday settings, turning access into something practical, visible and much closer to ordinary independence.

Convo UK – Instant Access to BSL Interpreting, Anytime, Anywhere

Replaces delay with immediate support, giving deaf users more equal access to healthcare, banking, travel and other services when timing matters most.

Transreport: Passenger Assistance, the operating system for assisted travel

Builds accessibility into transport systems themselves, helping travel feel more reliable, less stressful and more open to disabled passengers.

 

Digital Inclusion Award

These finalists focus on the people most at risk of being left behind as more of life moves online, finding practical ways to build confidence, connection and access.

Phonely: Safe, Simple Communication for Older Adults

Creates a simpler and more reassuring digital experience for older people, helping them stay connected at a time when confusing interfaces and online scams can easily push people away.

Lifelites 25: Bringing tech to young people with life-limiting conditions

Uses technology to create joy, connection and play for children with life-limiting conditions, showing that inclusion is also about delight and shared experience.

Colibri: A Head-Controlled Mouse for Affordable Digital Access

Makes digital access more affordable for people with severe motor disabilities, proving that inclusion becomes real when useful tools are within reach.

Big Issue × giffgaff: Connecting people to their potential

This partnership shows that digital exclusion is about far more than handing out devices, linking connectivity with community support and creating a pathway towards greater stability and possibility.

 

Financial Inclusion Award

These finalists show how technology can make money matters safer, clearer and fairer for people who are excluded or overlooked by mainstream systems.

Nationwide – Hide payment references feature

Takes on a hidden form of harm in everyday banking, showing how small design decisions can make financial services safer for people who need protection most.

AdviceNow: ‘Like a friend helping me’

Makes a daunting benefits system feel more human, helping people challenge decisions they might otherwise accept and improving access to justice and stability.

Signly – Enabling Deaf customers to understand and manage their finances independently

Makes complex financial information easier to understand in sign language, giving Deaf customers more control, confidence and independence in managing money.

Dots for: Unlocking Financial Inclusion for the Unbanked in Rural Africa via Alternative Data Credit

Uses alternative data and off-grid digital infrastructure to open up first-time financial access for communities long shut out of formal systems.

 

Global Impact Award

These projects show how digital tools can improve daily life across very different contexts, widening access and supporting dignity in places where support is often stretched or uneven.

PATHFINDER: An AI-Driven Chronic Disease Management Platform for Parkinson’s Disease

Combines AI, wearables and home-based support to help people with Parkinson’s live more independently, while giving families and clinicians a stronger basis for ongoing care.

RehApp: Transforming Disability Support Through Scalable Digital Tools

Strengthens frontline disability support through digital tools, helping limited services become more practical, more consistent and more responsive to real need.

Torchit: Scaling Digital Dignity and Independence for 10 Million Families

Shows what can happen when assistive technology, inclusive education and local leadership come together to spread dignity, access and independence at scale.

SLK – Sign Language Karo

Makes sign language feel easy to try, timely and shareable, using playful mobile experiences that has reached over 200 million viewers, helping to reduce everyday communication barriers between Deaf and non-Deaf people at a truly global scale.

 

Inclusive Education Award

These finalists open up learning for people who are too often excluded, using technology to reduce anxiety, widen participation and make education feel more possible.

Removing the Barrier Before the Barrier

Helps disabled and neurodivergent learners prepare for unfamiliar spaces before they arrive, reducing anxiety and making participation easier from the start.

Messenger Pigeon – AI Study Assistant

Offers practical study support at scale for students whose needs are often missed, helping more learners stay engaged and succeed on fairer terms.

BBC Microbit: Making block-based coding accessible to everyone

The Microbit brought programming skills to millions of young people – now block-based coding has been made accessible for learners with disability, widening access to digital skills at the point where confidence and curiosity begin.

uDot: Tactile Display powered STEM learning

Brings tactile access into STEM learning, making one of the most visual parts of education more open, practical and empowering for blind students.

 

Inclusive Innovation Award

These projects show how innovation can change ordinary life for the better, lowering barriers and making technology more useful, more affordable and more inclusive.

Humanos 3D

Goes beyond creating assistive devices by helping communities become makers and problem-solvers in their own right, building local capability as well as useful products.

SensePilot

Cuts the cost of hands-free computer control, bringing a valuable form of access closer to the people who need it most.

Google Pixel Guided Frame

Helps blind and low-vision users take photos more independently, opening up creativity, confidence and self-expression through better design.

Dialogue Boost on Amazon’s Fire TV

Shows how a mainstream product can become more inclusive by improving speech clarity on screen, making entertainment easier and more enjoyable for many people.

 

Workplace Inclusion Award

These finalists focus on making work more equal and less exhausting, reducing friction and helping disabled and neurodivergent people thrive.

Magnify Access: The Workplace Accommodation System

Helps employers manage workplace adjustments more fairly and efficiently, reducing one of the most frustrating barriers many disabled people still face at work.

Robbie: The Neurodivergent Workplace Buddy

Offers discreet, personalised support in the flow of the working day, helping neurodivergent employees navigate work with less strain and more confidence.

Furbd

Brings together digital inclusion, sustainability and neurodivergent employment in a model that shows how fairer systems can create new routes into work.

Evenbreak’s Disability Inclusion Best Practice Portal

Turns good intentions into practical action by helping employers understand what real support looks like in real workplace situations.

 

Young Pioneer Award

These finalists show the imagination and seriousness younger innovators are bringing to some of the biggest questions in technology today, from safety and access to skills and opportunity.

VULKOS: Semiconductor workforce programme

Makes specialist training more accessible, helping a wider range of young people step into an industry that can often feel distant or out of reach.

SafeNav: AI-Powered Route Safety for Pedestrians

Uses data to help pedestrians make safer journey choices, giving people more confidence and control in everyday life.

Orinav: Outdoor Navigation for People with Visual Impairments

Combines navigation and hazard awareness to support greater independence for people with visual impairments as they move through the world.

Mau Creative Hub: Bridging Africa’s Digital Divide

Turns the digital divide into something practical and hopeful by helping young people in Nigeria build digital skills, confidence and new routes into opportunity.

 

People’s Award

All finalists are eligible for the People’s Award, which will be open for public voting from 15 June to 1 July 2026.

 

Learning from those leading the way

Since 2011, the AbilityNet Tech4Good Awards have celebrated organisations and individuals who are using technology to make a real difference.

Many past winners have gone on to achieve global impact.

Join us at the online ceremony on Friday 3 July at 2pm to see this year’s winners revealed live, celebrate their achievements, and be inspired by what’s possible when technology is used for good. Don’t miss it.

Register for the Tech4Good Awards Ceremony