Infinite Access

Disabled viewers use Infinite Access's AI-powered platform to receive emergency broadcast content in sign language, enlarged captions, and multilingual audio when mainstream media fails to deliver accessible alerts.

ENABLE Model location

• Builder-side Interventions → Design Accessible Experiences
• Builder-side Interventions → Develop Accessible Implementations
• Builder-side Interventions → Create Accessible Content

What it is

Infinite Access is a public benefit corporation (PBC) based in New York that builds an AI-based platform to make live media content -- especially emergency broadcasts -- accessible to people with disabilities. The platform enhances television and web streams with real-time sign-language interpretation, customizable captioning, enlarged text, and audio narration in more than a dozen languages. Users can tailor the output to their individual access needs. The company was founded by Jonathan Thurston, who previously led accessibility programs at Walmart, Atlassian, and Pearson, alongside Marcie Roth (Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability and former FEMA senior advisor), Matt Kaplowitz (CEO of Bridge Multimedia), and Mark Francisco as Chief Technology Officer.13

This represents a builder-side intervention at the design, development, and content stages: instead of forcing disabled people to piece together emergency information from inaccessible broadcasts, Infinite Access embeds accessibility directly into media delivery infrastructure.

Why it matters

When broadcast media fails to provide accessible emergency communications, disabled people are placed in mortal danger. The California wildfires of early 2025 demonstrated this starkly: disabled residents were unable to evacuate because critical information -- the scrolling ticker at the bottom of the screen, evacuation orders, shelter locations -- was visually inaccessible or unavailable in sign language.1 This represents a catastrophic failure of builder-side content care. Infinite Access intervenes upstream by transforming how emergency content is delivered, redistributing the burden away from navigators who would otherwise be forced to rely on human help or simply go without life-saving information. The need addresses abandonment of disabled communities during emergencies and precarity created when mainstream infrastructure ignores accessibility.

Real-world example

Infinite Access was named to the inaugural Forbes Accessibility 100 list in June 2025, which recognized the company for its work making emergency broadcast content accessible. Co-founder Jonathan Thurston told Forbes: "There's massive innovation needed that's unfortunately growing every day. It seems like it's not a sexy space, but this not only saves lives, it has a billion-dollar market."1 The platform's design allows users to customize how emergency information reaches them -- increasing font size on scrolling tickers, adding sign-language overlays, or receiving audio narration -- capabilities that were absent during the 2025 California wildfires when disabled people could not evacuate in time.1

What care sounds like (builder-side interventions)

Care at the design, development, and content stages involves building accessible emergency communication from the start:

• "We design our broadcast overlays so every viewer -- deaf, blind, low-vision -- can customize how they receive emergency alerts."
• "We test with sign-language users and screen-reader users before any release goes live."
• "Our platform embeds captioning, sign language, and multilingual audio into every emergency stream by default."

What neglect sounds like (builder-side interventions)

Neglect involves treating accessible emergency communication as optional:

• "The scrolling ticker is standard -- people can read it or ask someone to read it for them."
• "Sign-language interpretation is too expensive for live broadcasts."
• "We'll add accessibility features after launch if there's demand."

What compensation sounds like (navigator-side compensations)

Compensation describes the labor disabled people undertake when emergency broadcasts are inaccessible:

• "I had to call my neighbor to read the evacuation notice on TV because the text was too small and there was no audio."
• "During the fire, I couldn't understand the emergency ticker -- no one was signing, and there were no captions I could resize."
• "I rely on my family group chat to relay emergency information because broadcast media never includes me."

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All observations occur within the context of emergency communication systems and accessible media infrastructure.