Ripples of Impact: Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders with Today’s Tech

Like many Stanford students, Eva Hangartner is accomplished and multi-talented: she graduated from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science in New York City (where she competed in track and swimming), she speaks German and Arabic, and she is now pursuing a major in history. When she finishes at Stanford, Eva plans to work in the field of refugee support and advocacy.

Unlike most students at Stanford, Eva is legally blind. She was born with a congenital condition known as cone dystrophy, which she was diagnosed with at age three. Cone dystrophy is a progressive condition that becomes more severe over time. While Eva presents as sighted (i.e., does not use a cane), she must sit in the front row to be able to see the whiteboard and finds reading on screen to be frustrating and difficult.

Of course, Eva’s rigorous course load means that she has enormous amounts of reading to do — often hundreds of pages per week. Fortunately, she is supported by Stanford’s Office of Accessible Education, which turned her on to two Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) member organizations that have together helped her plow through her weekly reading load.

Bookshare

The first is the Bookshare reading platform, which allows Eva to access many books that she needs to read…