How it all began
Our project was much more than a two-and-a-half-day sprint. For us, it began back in September last year. That’s when the realization hit: if you want to run a solid hackathon project, you have to start early. So I started reaching out. I spoke with several peers in the accessibility world, including Nina Jameson (who was also on the Can Everyone Use team last year) and her business partner Tobias Roppelt. Both are well known in Germany for building accessible websites and their educational programs. We debated whether to build upon last year’s project or explore something new. We chose the latter: accessible infographics.
And these are everywhere! Pie charts, financial dashboards, medical diagrams, shoe size charts, assembly instructions. But if you’re a content creator without coding knowledge, making those such accessible is next to impossible. And that’s a problem. Accessibility shouldn’t stop at the written word.
Preparation phase
Once the project was accepted, preparation kicked into full gear. GitHub boards were set up, the idea got outlined, and the website’s designed was made in Figma. In short, we got organized. This was possible thanks to Nina’s exceptional project management. It was an absolute honor and pleasure to have her as my co-lead. Her structure and foresight were instrumental in the success of this project.
Day one: pitching and team formation
The first day of the Hackathon came, and pitching our idea on stage was a funky challenge, with only 2 minutes and just one slide allowed. Then the surprise: our table filled up so fast! What a blessing.
Our goal was to conceptualize, to iterate and to document the idea for this plugin clearly, so others can use that to create a plugin for their CMS of choice. For WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Typo3, you name it.
Despite the project’s complexity, we got far more done than we expected. With such a brilliant mix of skills in the team, from back-end and front-end development to marketing, AI, content, and accessibility, we moved from concept to a working prototype in record time! Around 5pm in the afternoon of the second day Jakob tooted the horn in our Mattermost channel that the first working prototype, a WordPress Block plugin, could be tested! An hour later, Zeshan posted a successful test where the plugin even correctly reads the unreadable numbers on a low res pixelated image.
The magic of great project management and overcoming barriers
There were several factors that helped us to succeed. With Nina and Tobias booting up after I had addressed the team, we were able to hit the ground running.
Great project management is magic. If you propose a project for the Hackathon, make sure you’re solid in that aspect. Without it we would never have gotten this far. It was hard to believe the teams we had split up in hadn’t worked together before. It felt seamless.
The less obvious hurdle
It’s important to recognize this: a significant portion of our team, myself included, is neurodivergent. Events like this are mentally demanding for anyone, but for those of us sensitive to noise, bright lights, or high-speed context switching, it feels like running a triathlon in a hurricane. And still, we did it.
I’m not saying that to get pity or a pedestal. It’s for your general understanding. We kept each other going, did our best to make space for different needs where we could, and got results. And with that, in our entire team, we helped each other to grow as well.
Recognition and reflections
This was my third CloudFest Hackathon experience. Comparing it to my first, I saw clear evolution in the second one I participated in. And 2025? It was not just exceptionally well organized, as always, but this time there was an extra dimension. The guidance from Carole, Alain, Lucas, Thierry, and Simon was superb. They didn’t just run logistics, they offered solid project mentorship even more than in previous years, both individually and in groups. This was another factor that added to the successful progress of our project.
The jury members interacted with all team leads during the entire Hackathon. They took time to understand our goals and asked sharp questions. We felt seen. And it reminded everyone: This wasn’t just a weekend of geeking out with free food and a nice hotel. We came to build something that matters. Something people can actually use.
We had joked before we started that we’d go all in on winning the social media award, not for the title, but as confirmation that the message has been spread widely. Boy, did we hit the drums. But winning team had drummed even harder. Well done! So we didn’t win that particular award this time. No complaints, though, we were second in both that category and in the Dream Team category. We made third place in the Pitch Perfect category, and we did win the Breaking Barriers award!
…and then, where I was expecting another team to win, we were announced as the Overall Winner. I’m still overwhelmed with gratitude.
Each team member gave it their best and I look forward to continuing our collaboration. Our GitHub repo currently has 43 open tickets, we don’t stop stepping on the gas!
The impact and potential
It’s important to say this: projects should not stop dead in the water after the Hackathon. They need support to grow. The people building it have already invested so much. The cost and the value of development of an MVP like this one alone is immense, there were 16 people working on this directly! If all resources that went into this would be calculated in cost, we’re talking 50.000 Euro.
A word from our team members
Lumi Ciobanu put it beautifully: “Being part of the CloudFest Hackathon Accessible Infographics project was a truly meaningful and fulfilling experience, supporting a tool with real potential to improve digital accessibility. The experience aligned with my career path, connected me with other accessibility specialists, and deepened my commitment to creating a more inclusive web.”
Mike Demo wrote: “It was great to be part of a team that built something I could immediately use. I am impressed by how much progress the project made in just a few short days.”
And Aaron Kessler told me he initially joined to work on AI prompting, but the fast-paced, noisy setting combined with language barriers proved difficult. He pivoted to front-end development and contributed to the Gutenberg implementation instead. “This experience not only rekindled my WordPress development skills but also taught me valuable lessons in teamwork and adaptability,” he said. “It reminded me of the joy of collaborative coding.”
We have more where those testimonials came from, they will gradually be posted in the upcoming weeks.
What’s next?
We’re now working on refining the plugin and preparing a free version for the WordPress repository. Our website, visua11y.org, has been live from day one and is evolving. Here’s the API documentation.
So is the end-user documentation for the Block Plugin.
We’re also working on documentation for other CMSs to follow. Long-term, we plan to support bulk generation of accessible infographics, helping retro-fit existing websites. At the moment, what we built already reduces the process from one hour of manual work for one infographic to just two clicks for WordPress users.
This is what it looks like to put AI to good use for accessibility. It’s practical, it works, and it helps site owners open their doors to millions of users who were previously excluded. It’s also great for SEO. If Google sees an image named “chart1.png,” it learns nothing. If the infographic is properly described and semantically structured, search-engines understand it, and so does your audience.
Funding and the road ahead
We’ve already had interest from potential funders. And yes, we’re open to more. While the plugin works, it still needs some refinement to meet the standards of the WordPress plugin repository. That first step requires funding. After that, we’ll look at a second funding round to build out advanced features like bulk editing and contrast correction.
In closing
This wasn’t “just” another CloudFest Hackathon. This was the start of something bigger.
PS This year, our youngest member was Lorenz. He is 18 years old and he played a pivotal role on the AI side of our project. I hope next year many more talents under 25 will join.
— Anne