Colorvoices

I'm developing an app that reads books aloud to children with speech and language delays. Inspired by my 5-year-old son who cannot speak yet, maybe hearing impairments.

Comment

Inspiration

We were inspired by children with language and sensory disabilities who are often left out of mainstream educational tools. One of our team members has a child with language development delay, and we’ve seen firsthand the lack of engaging and inclusive digital content for them. We wanted to build something that speaks to every child — literally and visually.

What it does

ColorVoices is an inclusive storybook app that allows children with disabilities to enjoy moral stories like The Fox and the Stork. It features characters that use sign language to narrate Includes text-to-speech (TTS) audio narration Provides on-screen captions Uses simple, emotional animations for better understanding This ensures that children who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or have language delays can enjoy and learn from stories independently.

How we built it

We designed character-based assets in Adobe Illustrator, created animation sequences in LottieFiles, and prototyped the app in Thunkable. We used Google TTS API for narration and uploaded clean PNG assets to create scene-based animations. The animation includes sign language poses and character reactions to support learning and engagement.

Challenges we ran into

Getting clean character animations into Lottie without strange rendering issues (e.g., floating lines or artifacts) Timing sign language animation with text and audio Lack of existing datasets or AI models that support Auslan or other sign languages Working in a very small team (only 2 members — and only 1 today!) while trying to do design, animation, and logic flow all at once

We created a short animation based on Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Crane.” I drew all the vector illustrations myself using Adobe Illustrator and produced the short film in Adobe Animate. We then extended the video using Adobe Premiere. To support children who are deaf or hard of hearing, we produced two versions of the video: one showing the story with text, and another with characters using sign language to explain the content. Unfortunately, during the app development process, we encountered an error that prevents the video from playing properly. Since our team consists of only two members and neither of us has professional experience in app development, this has been a significant challenge. However, we strongly believe in the value of our idea, as it has the potential to support many children with developmental and communication delays. We sincerely hope that our concept can be recognized and appreciated. If given the opportunity, we would love to collaborate with a developer to build a fully functional and accessible educational app. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I’ve spent a long time researching how to add a text-to-speech feature to my app, especially for children with speech and language delays. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the solution on my own, and that has been frustrating. But with the help of a developer, I hope to implement this feature and create something that can truly support children with visual impairments.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Created our first animated storybook scene with sign language narration Made an inclusive story experience that actually works across multiple disabilities Learned and implemented new tools like Lottie, Thunkable, and TTS APIs in a short time Designed something with real potential to help families and educators

What we learned

How to build and structure an MVP for an educational accessibility product How important emotional connection and visual clarity are for early learners That accessibility is not just a feature — it’s a mindset from the beginning And… how to work fast, creatively, and flexibly in a small team!

What's next for Colorvoices

Add more stories (especially ones with strong moral lessons) Build a library of sign language animations with help from the deaf community Introduce customization (voice speed, background themes, character choices) Partner with therapists and schools for user testing Expand to support multiple languages and sign language types (e.g., ASL, Auslan, KSL) Submit to grants or accelerators supporting assistive tech and inclusive education

Built With

  • adobe-animation
  • adobe-illustrator
  • adobe-premier
  • english
  • flutterflow
  • indian
  • korean
  • lottie
  • thunkable
Share this project:

Updates