About us
Raising the Floor is an international organization working to advance social equity through digital inclusion. Through research, design, and technology development, we work to ensure digital systems serve the full diversity of humanity—across ability, language, culture, gender, age, and more.
Integrating inclusive design and solutions doesn’t only benefit the people they are created for—it often leads to innovations that improve technology for everyone.
Our work is powered by a global community of developers, designers, researchers, advocates, companies, universities, and partner organizations. Together with teams at the Inclusive Design Research Center (IDRC) at OCAD University (Canada) and TRACE RERC at the University of Maryland (USA), we help ensure emerging technologies are designed to include everyone.
This work is made possible through international collaborations and funding from U.S. federal agencies, European Union programs, and other public and philanthropic supporters.
Raising the Floor is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Our divisions
Global Leadership & Collaboration
Raising the Floor – International (RtF-I) is a non-profit association based in Cointrin, Switzerland, advancing digital inclusion worldwide.
Founded in 2010, RtF–International was created to bring together leading inclusive design professionals, researchers, industry partners, and advocates to address global accessibility challenges. It serves as the coordinating and vision-setting body of the Raising the Floor network.
RtF–International leads international research, policy dialogue, and cross-border initiatives that aim to create a more accessible and equitable digital infrastructure. By fostering global collaboration and shaping systemic solutions, it ensures that accessibility innovations can scale across countries and contexts.
Through this work, RtF–International strengthens the global ecosystem that makes inclusive technologies possible.
Technology Innovation & Deployment
Raising the Floor – US is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in Washington, D.C., dedicated to advancing practical technology solutions for digital inclusion.
RtF–US focuses on developing, testing, and deploying innovative accessibility solutions that make digital environments adaptable to individual user needs. Its flagship initiatives include Morphic, AT-on-Demand and the Learn and try tool – free, open-source assistive technology solutions developed through international collaboration led by the University of Maryland’s TRACE RERC and supported by U.S., Canadian, and European Commission funding.
By transforming cutting-edge research into real-world tools, RtF–US ensures that inclusive design principles become usable, scalable technologies that empower individuals in education, employment, and daily life.
RtF–US turns innovation into impact.
European Partnerships & EU-Funded Initiatives
Raising the Floor – EU is a non-profit association (ASBL) based in Brussels, Belgium, advancing social equity through digital inclusion across Europe.
Founded in 2016, RtF–EU works closely with European institutions, research consortia, and industry partners to design and implement EU-funded projects focused on accessibility, inclusive design, and emerging technologies.
Through research, development, pilot programs, and stakeholder engagement, RtF–EU ensures that accessibility is embedded into European innovation ecosystems and policy frameworks. It translates the broader Raising the Floor mission into collaborative European action.
RtF–EU connects European policy, research, and practice to the global movement for digital inclusion.
Our team
Christopher Walker
Chief Technology Officer
David Stetz
Senior Software Engineer
Our Community
Over 50 companies, universities and organizations, and over 300 individuals have worked with us over the years on the effort to create solutions for digital inclusion — and we are always looking for new collaborations.
Follow this link to access a partial list of our community, which includes:
- Companies and Organizations who have participated or provided direct support
- Funding organizations
- Support in kind
- Early participants
Short list of founders and supporters
Support for Raising the Floor comes from many sources, including:
- The European Commission, through large scale integrating project grants funded Cloud4all, Prosperity4All, SmartWork, ITHACA, iGame, DinaCITY and XR-Sense.
- The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), Administration for Community Living through the TRACE RERC on Universal Interface and Information Technology Access
- The Rehabilitation Services Administration of the US Department of Education – through the Trace Center Auto-Personalization Computing Project.
- Adobe Foundation.
- Consumer Electronics Foundation.
- IBM Corporation (in kind).
- Independent contributions.
Please visit Our community to see a larger, still partial, list.