Listen
What are you trying to do?
The person experiencing the barrier is the expert on the problem. We start there.
About Access Made Iowa
Useful things should fit actual people.
Access Made Iowa exists for the small, specific accessibility problems that fall between mass-market products and highly specialized medical equipment.
Our approach
Start with the barrier, not the catalog.
A maker can often change dimensions, grip, position, spacing or controls in ways mass-produced products cannot. We use that flexibility carefully, with a clear safety boundary.
Prototype
Make the smallest useful change.
Simple is good. A practical spacer or grip can matter more than an elaborate invention.
Revise
Real use beats theory.
If the first version misses, we learn from it and adjust when the project remains safe and feasible.
What we are not
Not a medical-device manufacturer. Not a product catalog.
We focus on low-risk adaptations where a failed prototype is inconvenient rather than dangerous. Structural, weight-bearing, medically critical and other high-risk projects are outside our scope.
See the safety boundaryCost
The adaptation itself is free.
Recipients pay only exact postage when able. There is no handling fee, markup or required donation.
Status
Building the organization carefully.
Access Made Iowa has submitted its Iowa nonprofit formation filing. Federal 501(c)(3) recognition has not yet been granted, and we will not represent it as approved until it is.
There has to be a better way.