Two Utah parents turn their love for their child into a mission of accessibility

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — For two Utah parents, what started out as an act of love for their blind daughter became a full-fledged mission to make games more accessible for an entire community.

Maeve, who is 10 years old, has been blind since birth. According to her parents, she was born with a condition called

optic nerve hypoplasia.

“You feel devastated when you find out your kids has a disability and you’re scared of the dynamic of it,” Steven Erb, Maeve’s father, said.

They didn’t want Maeve’s limitations with sight to limit her access to her world. But they soon noticed that the simple moments of joy and fun were closed off not only to their daughter, but to the entire blind community as they struggled to find games that were accessible to the blind.

“I grew up in a gaming family, like a lot of the board games happened over the school breaks and summer breaks and winter breaks,” Sarah, Maeve’s mother, said as she reminisced about the fun times she shared with her family when she was growing up. She felt heartbroken that her daughter wouldn’t be able to build these cherished memories. So, Sarah and Steven had to get creative.

They started reinventing games, so that they were tactile and accessible for the blind. Through their touch and through their 3D printer, the classic games – like checkers, backgammon, chess, and even rock-paper-scissors – were reborn with accessibility features.

For example, their version of the chessboard was marked with braille. The pawns were magnetic and friendly to the touch – the black pawns could be recognized with the rough texture and square edges, while the white pawns were smooth to the touch and had round edges. The attention to detail stretched further. Black and white squares had different elevations so that the players could feel where they were placing their pawns.

“She’s (Maeve) actually been my biggest critic when I make something,” Steven said. He said that he constantly goes back and forth with not only his daughter but with people from the blind community for ideas on how to make these games more accessible.

“It makes me feel loved because my mom and dad are just the nicest,” Maeve told ABC4.com about what her parents’ business venture meant to her. And for Sarah and Steven, that was more than enough.

Sarah and Steven showcased their work at the state convention of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) held this weekend at the Provo Marriott. People stopped in their tracks to check out their inventions. As they felt the dice and pawns in their hands, a smile stretched over their faces. “Wow, this is so cool,” they would say amongst themselves.

Someone even stopped to ask Sarah, “Hey, are you hosting game night?” to which Sarah gleefully answered, “Yes.” She said that they frequently host these events for the blind using their creations, and people often look forward to them.

For Stevie, this became his full-time job. He told ABC4.com that he quit as a full-time chef and even went back to school to learn accessible designs.

“I did the multidisciplinary design degree for the University of Utah,” Steven said. “My thesis was the physicalization of sound.”

He said that they officially launched the business of Unicorn Soda Design Studio about two years ago. They have created 30 to 40 accessible games so far.

Steven worried that this isn’t the most lucrative business idea as it targets niche needs, but he believes in the value behind the mission: “Through my journey, I discovered a significant gap in accessibility for the blind community,” he said, and added that “true accessibility requires a deeper understanding.”

Next month, they’re traveling to New Orleans for the NFB National Convention.

“Being able to be a parent of a blind child has been the most incredible experience for me because it’s helped me to see the world in a totally different way,” Sarah said as she teared up.