SaralX

Founded by Dr. Akashdeep Bansal, SaralX exists because the person building it knows exactly what digital exclusion feels like. Diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at age 10 in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, Akashdeep lost his sight progressively. He went on to earn an M.Tech and PhD from IIT Delhi in digital accessibility—then in 2021, a significant vision loss made everyday digital tasks nearly impossible, even for him.

That moment crystallized what research alone couldn’t: the gap between knowing accessibility matters and actually experiencing what happens when it’s missing. SaralX was founded in July 2023 in Bengaluru to close that gap—for everyone.

What are they building?

SaralX provides end-to-end digital accessibility services that help organizations make their websites, apps, documents, and digital content usable for people with disabilities.

Their approach combines automated tools with something most accessibility firms can’t offer: nearly 50% of their team are persons with disabilities themselves. Every product is tested by real users navigating real-world scenarios—not just checked against a compliance checklist. Services span accessibility audits (combining automated scanning with manual screen reader testing and color contrast analysis), code-level remediation, developer and product team training, document and multimedia accessibility, ongoing advisory retainership, and inclusive hiring assistance.

The why?

SaralX recognized for innovation

In the small town of Gangoh in Uttar Pradesh, a young boy’s world gradually dimmed due to a rare genetic eye disorder. But his vision for a more inclusive world only grew sharper.

Akashdeep Bansal was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at age 10—a condition that progressively took his sight. Despite this, he pursued engineering, then earned both an M.Tech and PhD from IIT Delhi, where his research revolutionized accessibility for mathematical content. His work on making STEM education accessible for visually impaired students was integrated with MathJax and supported by Google, UKIERI, and SPARC. He presented at top global conferences including CSUN, ASSETS, and W4A.

During his PhD, he led a team at AssisTech Lab, IIT Delhi that developed a tool for making PDFs accessible, and he established the Office of Accessible Education at IIT Delhi.

But academic solutions weren’t enough. In 2021, a significant drop in his remaining vision made everyday digital tasks—the kind most people never think about—nearly impossible. “That’s when it stopped being a research problem and became personal survival,” Akashdeep reflects.

He founded SaralX in July 2023 with a clear conviction: accessibility must be built with persons with disabilities, not just for them. His hiring philosophy reflects this. “Empathy, problem-solving, and a commitment to inclusion guide our hiring—not traditional resumes.”

The timing proved critical. In 2024, legal action against over 150 Indian companies for digital non-compliance shifted accessibility from a moral imperative to a regulatory necessity. With over 200 million people with disabilities in India and only 5% of digital platforms accessible, SaralX isn’t serving a niche—it’s addressing a massive, underserved market.

“Over 1.3 billion people worldwide live with a disability, representing $13 trillion in annual disposable income. Yet with 97% of websites still inaccessible, businesses are missing out on a massive customer base. Accessibility isn’t charity—it’s a business imperative.”

— Dr. Akashdeep Bansal, Founder & CEO of SaralX