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Okeke Chukwudubem
Okeke Chukwudubem

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AccessBuild Day 1: I Built an Accessibility Audit API From Scratch

No grant. No funding. Just a working API deployed in one day.

I've been waiting on grant funding for AccessBuild for weeks.

The deadline passed. The emails went unanswered. So I made a decision: build with what I have.

Today is Day 1.

What AccessBuild Is

AccessBuild is an AI-powered accessibility audit tool for mobile apps. It scans an app's interface, checks whether interactive elements have proper accessibility labels, and scores the app from A to F.

If an app scores F, it means visually impaired users literally cannot use it. Screen readers can't read unlabeled buttons. Blind users are locked out.

I discovered this problem while building my Phone Agent. I tested 30 Nigerian apps. 100% of banking apps scored F.

What I Built Today

A working FastAPI backend, live on Render.

Feature Status
/audit endpoint ✅ Live
/grades endpoint ✅ Live
A-F scoring logic ✅ Working
Accessibility percentage calculation ✅ Working
Recommendation engine ✅ Working

How It Works

You send a list of UI elements from any app screen. Each element has a type (button, input, icon) and an optional accessibility label. The API:

  1. Filters out non-interactive elements
  2. Counts how many interactive elements have labels
  3. Calculates the accessibility percentage
  4. Assigns a grade (A through F)
  5. Returns a recommendation

The Test

I ran the first audit. A fake banking app with 5 interactive elements. Only 2 had labels.

Result: D — 40% accessible

Recommendation: "Urgent. Most elements are invisible to screen readers. Immediate fixes required."

That's the entire point. A real banking app with that score would be unusable by blind customers.

The Stack

  • FastAPI backend
  • Deployed on Render (free tier)
  • No environment variables needed
  • Pure Python logic

What's Next (Day 2)

  • Auto-extract UI elements from real apps
  • Store audit results in Supabase
  • Build a public dashboard showing app scores
  • Expand element types

Why I'm Building This Without Funding

Because the problem is real. 100% of Nigerian banking apps are inaccessible to visually impaired users. That's millions of people locked out of their own money.

I can't wait for a grant to fix that.

Day 1 is done. The API is live. Day 2 starts tomorrow.

— Dexter

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