Background

When stairs become mountains and doorways transform into barriers, mobility isn't just a challenge, it becomes excruciating. This is the daily reality for millions of physically disabled individuals across India, for whom the fundamental right to move freely through the world is compromised by ableist infrastructure and financial limitations. While assistive technology exists, it remains locked behind prohibitive costs, creating a two-tiered system that is only accessible to the few.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over a billion people globally live with some form of disability, and more than eighty percent of them reside in low and middle-income countries. According to the 2011 Census, the population of people with disabilities is approximately 26.8 million in India. 

Existing unfair conditions and systemic exclusion subject disabled individuals to a wide variety of risks, deteriorating their well-being. The intersection of disability and poverty creates a particularly difficult knot to untie. Households with disabled members tend to spend a significant portion of their income on disability related expenses, which works to ensure that they are forced to live a life of economic precarity.

The 3D Horizons project emerged from recognising these critical gaps and aims to address the problem through combining innovation with advocacy. Our aim is to resist ableist frameworks in order to make them more inclusive, such that they ensure dignity, independence, and full community participation of individuals with disabilities.