INNOVATION SPACE: A STUDY OF THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY IMPLICATIONS TO CONSIDER WHEN BRINGING A DISABILITY PRODUCT TO MARKET

Anytime a new product is brought to market or a new business is established, there are several legal and regulatory matters that must be addressed in order to achieve sustainable success. There are certain legal implications that every new business needs to consider, such as business structure, obtaining intellectual property, necessary licenses, agreements, liability, etc. In addition, there are also some regulations and laws that apply to only certain types of businesses. For products created for individuals with disabilities, some of these regulations include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). In this thesis, I study the disability product market, and the major legal and regulatory obstacles that a company might face in creating and marketing a product for consumers with either a mobile or visual disability. The research I conducted was based on a year-long project I completed in an interdisciplinary program called InnovationSpace. This paper introduces the program and our product, including a summary of the business model we created. Then, I discuss the findings of my research, before developing a plan for complying with the laws when taking our product, Naavi, to market. The major strategy discussed includes getting our product involved in public school districts through the IDEA, to give visually disabled students access to our product by making it a required component of their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Being able to do so would give our company an enormous business-to-business customer, which would be great for our company while simultaneously offering these students an opportunity to learn a valuable skill that can improve their daily lives.