2015 EiDA Nominee – Colin Dean

In 2011, Colin gave up his career at Durham University to develop a cutting edge app alongside his wife Beverley. Combining his previous experience in both education and IT, Colin co-founded Special iApps, an educational resource tailored specifically to disabled children. The idea for this groundbreaking app rose when Colin and Bev’s son William was awarded an iPad. They felt that the apps available were not accessible to children like their own son who has Down syndrome, complex needs and poor fine motor skills. This was the start of a pioneering journey which saw Colin write and design education apps for disabled children and adults. Special iApps launched with Special Words and Special Stories which proved to be extremely successful and popular amongst clients. Both apps provide a clear uncluttered user interface. There are no distractions, no advertising and no analytics. Today, Special iApps provide 11 exceptional apps tailored to a range of disabilities, helping to teach children in 22 languages over 100 countries.

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