Assistive Technology

small electronics boards and christmas ornament against a pink snowy backdrop

Know someone who has trouble operating a conventional computer input device, like a mouse, keyboard, joystick, or game controller? You can create your own device that is adapted to a particular person's needs and capabilities. Do they need a mouse they can click with a foot pedal or that moves by tilting, or a customized keyboard with big buttons? Could they use an adapted video game controller with a special joystick and knee-operated buttons? Could they use a "sip-n-puff" device controlled by their breath, or a no-touch gesture sensor?

Adafruit's CircuitPython lets you emulate standard keyboards and mice, or create your own custom HID devices. You can also use Arduino. Nearly all our microcontroller boards support HID. You can use USB, and on those boards that support it, BLE Bluetooth. We also have many other items in our store that can be part of an assistive technology project. Some are listed here.

For ideas and success stories of DIY assistive technology, check out atmakers.org.

A Black woman's manicured hand holds a round microcontroller with lit up LEDs.
Circuit Playground Express
$24.95
shot of a Black woman's neon-green manicured hand holding up a Circuit Playground Bluefruit glowing rainbow LEDs.
Circuit Playground Bluefruit - Bluetooth Low Energy
$24.95
Adafruit QT Py RP2040
$9.95
Angled shot of blue, rectangular, microcontroller.
Adafruit Feather nRF52840 Sense
$39.50
Top down view of a Adafruit LIS3DH Triple-Axis Accelerometer.
Adafruit LIS3DH Triple-Axis Accelerometer (+-2g/4g/8g/16g)
$4.95
Head-on shot of illuminated massive red 100mm arcade button.
Massive Arcade Button with LED - 100mm Red
$9.95
Head-on shot of illuminated large blue arcade button 60mm
Large Arcade Button with LED - 60mm Blue
$5.95
Angled shot of small, blue square-shaped pressure sensor breakout board.
Adafruit MPRLS Ported Pressure Sensor Breakout - 0 to 25 PSI
$29.95
Adafruit LPS33HW Water Resistant Pressure Sensor wired to a Feather and OLED via QT cables
Adafruit LPS33HW Water Resistant Pressure Sensor - STEMMA QT
$12.50
Angled shot of a Adafruit APDS9960 Proximity, Light, RGB, and Gesture Sensor.
Adafruit APDS9960 Proximity, Light, RGB, and Gesture Sensor
$7.50
Adafruit Proximity Trinkey - USB APDS9960 Sensor Dev Board
$9.95
Build an inexpensive Bluetooth device to give a disable user access to their iPad or iPhone
Using Bluefruit BLE to Give Disabled Users Switch Control Access to IOS Devices
Circuit Python Keyboard emulation
Arcade Button Control Box
Press the button to play sound!
CircuitPython Sound Box
3D printed foot switch USB controller
USB Foot Switch Controller in CircuitPython
A ported pressure sensor
Adafruit MPRLS Ported Pressure Sensor Breakout
Need the teacher's attention? This solder-free project makes it easy!
CircuitPython Powered AT Hand-Raiser
How to add your own buttons, switches, and joysticks to the Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller
DIY Adaptive Game Controllers
This assistive technology device combines infrared and Bluetooth control that can be operated with just 2 or 3 AT switches
Building the Assistive Technology Ultimate Remote
Turn your Feather nRF52840 into a wireless BLE keyboard entry device
BLE HID Keyboard Buttons with CircuitPython
Easily make an expandable Sip and Puff using the ST LPS33 sensor, STM32F405 Feather, and CircuitPython
CircuitPython Powered Sip & Puff with ST LPS33HW Pressure Sensor
Control mouse and keyboard functions using standard Arduino API on TinyUSB and BLE boards.
Mouse and Keyboard Control Using TinyUSB and BLE
Hide CIRCUITPY or the REPL. Add another serial port or new HID devices.
Customizing USB Devices in CircuitPython
Frequent favorites at your fingertips
MACROPAD Hotkeys
Create and use your own HID devices in Circuitpython
Custom HID Devices in CircuitPython