All awardees
YES Awards 2026 · inclusion
Dheer Gurnani
Engaged 100+ people through VDS testing, demonstrations, accessibility feedback and community outreach, including direct engagement with visually impaired users and staff at Happy Home School for the Blind.
“Visual Dignity Shield”
Dheer Vijay Gurnani is a Year 12 student at Jumeirah College in Dubai interested in computer science, economics and accessibility. Inspired by his grandfather’s visual impairment, he independently developed the Visual Dignity Shield, an AI-enabled smart safety stick for visually impaired users, which won first place at the 2026 Dubai Science, Engineering and Economics Fair. Through the LaunchX US programme, he also co-developed TextureDots, a tactile product for blind and visually impaired users
inclusion
