Latest news with #NexusInclusion
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
How an Irish firm is using AI to make websites accessible to people with a disability
Kyran O'Mahoney comes from a computer science background and, during a career spanning 20 years, he has held senior technical roles with some of the biggest names in Irish business including Ryanair, Dunnes Stores and AIB. In 2024, O'Mahoney took the plunge into entrepreneurship and, with €2 million in private backing, set up software company Nexus Inclusion to improve digital world accessibility for people of all abilities. Those without a disability take the navigation of digital tools, such as websites, for granted. But for those with visual or motor impairment, for example, it can be quite a challenge if the selection tabs are not in the right order, there are glitches with the payment process or a site requires a mouse to operate the controls. O'Mahoney completely understands the frustration and exclusion this causes. He is significantly visually impaired and has negotiated an often unfriendly digital world with less than 17 per cent vision. READ MORE As things stand, he says fewer than 5 per cent of the top million websites globally are accessible to people with disabilities. 'Learning to use technology transformed my world as a young person. Technology was an enabler and a game-changer but most people with a disability are not afforded the same opportunity,' he says. 'I want technology to transform lives and AI is taking the possibilities to a new level. 'People with disabilities don't want to be accommodated. They want to be included,' he says. In a nutshell Nexus Inclusion's technology can identify anomalies, missing tabs and other accessibility glitches across the digital product spectrum. However, unlike existing systems that only identify the problem and recommend remediation, the Co-Pilot tool will analyse the issue, show a business exactly where it is exposed and spell out the best solution – for example, adding an extra line of code to ensure sizing and colour choices flow smoothly. Problems with digital channels are not isolated. O'Mahoney says they affect up to 80 per cent of ecommerce sites in Ireland. 'AI has allowed us to develop a ground-breaking solution to make the world more digitally inclusive and our first-of-its-kind SaaS platform – powered by GenAI (generative artificial intelligence) – can analyse digital accessibility across websites, images, videos, audio, social media channels and content on any digital platform,' he says. 'The Nexus Inclusion tools are built to cover the full product development life cycle, supporting designs, developers, content managers and executives.' As things stand, fewer than 5 per cent of the top million websites globally are accessible to people with disabilities — Kyran O'Mahoney The company's B2B solution is aimed at organisations of all sizes that want to build digital inclusion into their products or services from the get-go and comply with upcoming legislation. 'The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines compliance standards are a set of guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. In practice, this means that all businesses trading in Europe are required to have a digitally accessible product from this month,' O'Mahoney explains. [ Businesses run risk of legal action under new digital accessibility rules Opens in new window ] His prime commitment is to inclusivity and this extends to the company's pricing, which starts at €49 a month for small enterprises. The Co-Pilot tool will be officially launched later this month and the company's team of seven (which includes seasoned IT executive Eric Neville and Jonathan Sinden, the former head of user experience at Bank of Ireland) is set to grow to 30 by the end of 2026. Unusually, Nexus didn't have a MPV (minimum viable product) when it went looking for investment. Despite this, the money flowed in 'largely because everyone knows someone who struggles with technology for whatever reason and the concept resonated with them', O'Mahoney says. Dublin LEO got things going with a feasibility grant and once O'Mahoney pushed the 'go' button, the launch product was developed in a rapid five months. 'This is only the beginning,' he says. 'It will take us about three years to build out the complete vision for Nexus Inclusion.'
Business Post
11-05-2025
- Business
- Business Post
Irish start-up Nexus Inclusion raises €2 million for AI-powered accessibility tech
Tech Irish start-up Nexus Inclusion raises €2 million for AI-powered accessibility tech Vish Gain 13:53 Nexus Inclusion was founded by Kyran O'Mahoney, who was born with 17 per cent vision.
Irish Examiner
11-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Entrepreneur born with sight loss secures €2m to develop internet accessibility software
An Irish company founded by an entrepreneur born with sight loss has secured €2m in funding to develop AI software to make the internet more accessible for people of all abilities. Nexus Inclusion was founded by Kyran O'Mahoney, the former group chief technology officer of Vision Ireland. He has also held senior technical roles at Dunnes Stores, Ryanair, and AIB. Nexus Inclusion employs seven people and plans to build a team of 30 by the end of 2026, with roles currently open for developers, business development and marketing. Mr O'Mahoney was born with 17% vision. "I founded Nexus Inclusion to change the world so no one is excluded because they are different," he said. "It is my firm belief that technology and, more importantly, the emergence of AI is the next thing to change the world for people excluded from digital products. "If you look at the banking sector, it is still incredibly inaccessible, yet we have an inherent right to financial independence and financial freedom. Some elderly, vision-impaired or people with learning difficulties can't read their own bank statements. Nexus Inclusion's solution will help with this issue. 'The Nexus AI tool can summarise the key information at a reading level appropriate to the user in a format they are comfortable with. It automatically adds captions or transcripts and ensures that digital products work with assistive technologies. Every customer we onboard will make the world more digitally equal," Mr O'Mahoney said. The digital accessibility market is estimated to be worth €627m globally, growing to approximately €851m by 2029. Nexus Inclusion is launching ahead of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into force on June 28th, 2025. The legislation requires all businesses trading in Europe to have digitally accessible websites, apps and online products. The World Health Organisation estimates there are 1.3bn people with a disability worldwide while as many as one in four people need assistance accessing online content. "We need to move beyond Digital Accessibility, which is about making accommodations for people with different abilities. As someone who has grown up with limited vision, I don't want to be accommodated. I want to be included in every aspect of life.' said Mr O'Mahoney. 'To me, this is inclusion. At Nexus Inclusion, our objective is to bridge the digital divide so no one is excluded.'
