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A high school student in New Jersey was shocked to see Braille keyboards selling for thousands of dollars, so he built his own for under $10.

Umang Sharma, a senior at Princeton Day School, began the project by taking apart a regular computer keyboard on his bedroom floor to understand how it worked. After learning how the parts fit together, he started testing different ideas and designs.

Rather than building a new device from scratch, he used a standard keyboard as the base and focused on the part that matters most for accessibility: the keys.

He designs and 3D-prints Braille keycaps that fit onto standard keyboards, using durable and affordable materials. Each key is attached by hand, and every keyboard is tested for comfort.

The result is a familiar QWERTY keyboard that allows people who are blind or visually impaired to type independently.

Sharma founded Jdable to distribute the keyboards and other low-cost assistive tools. With help from more than 50 student volunteers, he has delivered over 100 keyboards to students in the United States, India, Finland and the United Arab Emirates.

The nonprofit has received nearly $490,000 in grant funding from companies including Google and Microsoft, along with additional donations from individuals.

“It isn’t about creating a really cool invention,” Sharma said. “It’s about giving someone the ability to type and not have to wait for someone else to do it for you.”

He plans to study engineering and computing in college. But for now, he is focused on making accessibility practical and affordable.This article has information from Tap Into and Disability Scoop.