Vol. I · Edition 265

Hani Yousif

Rakizah — the adaptive accessibility platform for the Kingdom

Problem

People with disabilities in Saudi Arabia interact with a fragmented service landscape. Benefits, transport, employment, therapy, community — each lives on a different app, portal, or paper form, and none of them adapt to the specific disability of the person in front of the screen.

The result is a system that technically offers a lot but practically hides it. Families told us the same story: we know a benefit exists, we cannot navigate to it in time to use it.

The brief was to build a single national touch-point — bilingual, government-verified, and native to accessibility — where every service that touches a person with a disability is either present, or one click from present.

Solution

Rakizah is a single app whose interface re-draws itself for each user. Colours, font sizing, information density, and interaction patterns shift based on the disability profile the user authenticates with — five profiles today, extensible without a code deploy.

Identity is bootstrapped from Nafath: the app never stores a password, and the disability grade + entitlements are pulled directly from the official source. That single decision closed the trust gap that had kept previous attempts stuck at pilot.

On top of that identity layer sits a services module — accessibility maps, parking booking, adapted transport, education, inclusive employment, community — each modelled as a plug-in feature so government and private partners can join without a full integration project.

Architecture

Adaptive UI as a first-class primitive

Not five apps for five audiences — a single design system that recomposes at runtime from a profile document. The renderer treats accessibility as layout, not as a theme.

Nafath-first identity

Authentication goes to the national Nafath platform directly. No password store, no password recovery flow, no shadow user record. Verified attributes (disability grade, benefits) are pulled on every session.

Compliance by default

End-to-end encryption, in-Kingdom data residency, PDPL-aligned lifecycle policies, and a UI baseline of WCAG 2.1 AA — the accessibility level Saudi government platforms require as a floor.

Features
  • Adaptive interface — colour, typography, density and interaction retune per user profile
  • Verified digital disability card via Nafath, with QR verification
  • Community-rated accessibility maps (ramps, elevators, restrooms)
  • Live parking availability + booking + extension
  • Adapted transport with wheelchair-lift vehicles and trained drivers
  • Rehabilitation & education (sign language, speech therapy, remote physio)
  • Inclusive employment marketplace aligned to Saudization quotas
  • Family community, events, and legal / psychological consultations
Results

The product is in early launch, recruiting design partners across Riyadh. The measurable win so far is the platform decision itself: five audiences no longer means five apps.

Onboarding time — from install to a verified account with a live digital card — averages under two minutes because Nafath does the heavy lifting. Support tickets on identity mismatch, historically the number-one drop-off point on comparable services, are near zero.

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