Technology That Connects: How Arnavi Builds Bridges Through Assistive Innovation

By Sigrid Wang

“For me as a technologist, if something is broken, we should really figure out how all of us become better informed and educated so as to be able to meet the ultimate goal of designing and building things for everybody.” Arnavi stated firmly during the interview with 3DA. Reentering academia with real-world experience and guided by this vision, Arnavi is striving to bridge the gap to make assistive technology truly usable and effective, while also exploring the communities that can benefit from it. 

Arnavi Chheda-Kothary’s path into accessibility began during her undergraduate studies in Human-Centered Design and Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. Immersing herself in a vibrant Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community inspired her to start thinking about how people derive value from using technology. With this mindset, she devoted herself to a capstone project focused on eye-tracking for individuals with limited mobility. Whether meeting with disability experts and scholars or spending time in rehabilitation centers to understand user needs and challenges, the entire process left a lasting impact on her. This experience continued to draw her toward accessibility-related projects even after she started working at Microsoft. While working at Microsoft as a software engineer and later an engineering lead, Arnavi consistently pursued her passion for accessibility. She sought out accessibility-focused hackathon and side projects. Taking on the role of accessibility driver on her product teams, she also actively collaborated with accessibility experts to ensure best practices. Influenced by the innovative research happening at Microsoft Research, Arnavi eventually made the decision to return to academia to pursue graduate studies and contribute more meaningfully to this field. 

Assistive technologies such as screen readers and captioning tools have gained growing public awareness in recent years. While many developers are aware that blind users rely on screen readers, few have the deeper understanding required to design experiences that are truly effective. As Arnavi pointed out, there remains a significant gap in understanding how these tools are actually used in day-to-day life. Basic literacy in how assistive technology functions is necessary, but what lies beyond that is an understanding of what it really means to deliver a meaningful and accessible user experience. Only by designing with this holistic perspective in mind can assistive technologies truly fulfill their purpose. 

This mindset is clearly reflected in Arnavi’s current project, Art Insight, where she works in AI-powered artwork interpretation for mixed visual ability families. Rather than focusing solely on individuals with disabilities, Arnavi centers her work on the dynamics between disabled individuals and their non-disabled partners or children. The project has undergone a full development cycle. Once deployed in real homes, it received not only positive feedback from families but also gave the team a strong sense of impact and accomplishment. Arnavi’s team approached the project knowing that family interactions are deeply personal and that introducing technology into those moments could feel intrusive. To better understand the space, they conducted research directly with different families to learn how they currently engage with artwork. Through this community-centered approach, the team discovered an important insight:

While children’s drawings can often feel simple, children use them to convey a complex range of emotions and thoughts. Using AI to interpret them could come across as minimizing or even disrespectful to the child artist’s intentions and efforts. To fix this problem, Art insight allows parents to record their child’s own descriptions of their artwork, and then the AI would learn and incorporate that into its own descriptions. 

Interestingly, the feedback of Art Insight wasn’t entirely one-sided. Families expressed a desire to control how and when they used the technology, often preferring to engage directly with their children without digital mediation. This reflects a recurring tension, which is how to use technology to enrich daily life without compromising the human experience. As the conversation shifted toward the ethics of using AI in intimate settings, Arnavi concluded with a key perspective: Though it can be used to have a different type of interaction or maybe an enhanced dialog, we should always think of these tools as supplementary. 

“In all of the studies and the work I've done, that has always been universally true, like parents and relatives, they never want to replace that interaction with their child. They always want to think of it as supplementary or augmentative. So I think just being really mindful of the role of AI and technology broadly, we should be really intentional about curating that to not be replacing any sort of interpersonal relationship or interaction.” 

Parents expressed a desire to control when and how technology enters the interaction, preferring to use it before or after moments of connection rather than during them. All these insights reflect the ethics and design principles of AI in emotionally sensitive contexts critically. AI should not interrupt human relationships, but support them respectfully to preserve the authenticity of interpersonal moments. At the same time, Arnavi noted that preferences varied across families. Some parents, particularly those more familiar with technology, were more comfortable using AI tools, even if they weren’t always accurate. Others, especially those who placed strong value on emotional nuance in family interactions, were more cautious or critical. These differences underscore the need for adaptable design that can accommodate a range of comfort levels and communication styles. 

What gives this project its real impact is Arnavi’s awareness of the importance of close relationships and how they function. She knows that for parents, a child’s drawing is more than just an image. It’s a reflection of inner thoughts and feelings, which is a meaningful form of connection. Compared to certain big companies building technology for productivity, Arnavi sees a potential lying in how it affects personal relationships. Looking to the future, Arnavi expresses hope that more attention will be given to these spaces, especially as technologies like AI become more integrated into daily life. However, she cautions against viewing AI as a universal solution. Instead, she urges technologists to think critically about its role, acknowledging both its potential and its risks. 

When it comes to strategies for raising public awareness, Arnavi emphasized that while approaches may vary depending on the context, the core principle remains the same: amplifying the voices and lived experiences of people with disabilities. She advocates for technologists to actively engage with disabled communities, whether by learning from disabled scholars, participating in user studies, or collaborating with accessibility teams within tech companies. Beyond direct engagement, she also stresses the importance of developing accessibility literacy. This includes studying relevant standards (like web and mobile accessibility guidelines), reading existing literature on the history and impact of accessible technologies, and ensuring accessible design is integrated from the start. Crucially, Arnavi notes that while engaging with disabled individuals is essential, it must be done respectfully. We should be careful to not place the burden of education solely on end users. Instead, technologists should take personal responsibility for education and advocacy. 

At the end of the conversation, Arnavi also shared her hopes for the future of assistive technology: “I’m hoping that growth continues, there's a lot of potential, and there's so much innovation in this space, and I think it's really just about getting more people engaged with the space to be able to build meaningful technological outcomes.” Echoing Arnavi’s vision, the future of assistive technology lies not only in continuous innovation, but in its ability to stay grounded in real world needs. It should be practical, people centered, and full of empathy. Its true value lies not just in connecting individuals to the world around them, but in bringing them closer to the people who matter most.