NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Brick by brick, Matthew Shifrin is making Legos more accessible for people who are blind.
Shifrin became captivated with constructing sets at an early age, but there was one obstacle, he said:
“Lego instructions are pictures, and I hadn’t been able to build those sets on my own because I’m blind.”
Determined to help, a friend converted the visual diagrams into a detailed, text-based list in braille, allowing the Newton native to build his first Lego set independently at 13 years old.
“It really helped me access this quintessential part of childhood,” Shifrin said. “I was inspired by the opportunity to be able to build on my own and I wanted to be able to give that opportunity to other blind kids.”
To honor his friend’s memory, Shifrin now helps aspiring builders through the nonprofit Bricks for the Blind. The organization converts Lego instructions into written-out instructions for free. Builders can then print the directions in braille or access them using screen readers.
Shifrin said completing that first set opened up an entirely new world, and he wants to do the same for others.
“It was an opportunity to explore the parts of the world that I had been unable to explore on my own as a blind person, the parts of the world that were too big to feel — the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty — major landmarks,” he said.
With adapted instructions in hand, Shifrin has led workshops at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown and the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton.
Watching students experience their own “ah-ha” moments, he said, is priceless.
“It is so wonderful not only to be an advocate for these kids, because I know what they’ve gone through as blind kids, but also just to be able to energize them and let them know that this medium of Legos is theirs for the taking,” he said.
Shifrin has even brought his accessibility mission to Lego’s headquarters in Denmark, demonstrating the adapted instructions to company leaders. He said Lego has since committed to releasing 20 accessible designs per year.
Looking ahead, Shifrin hopes to continue expanding the nonprofit’s reach every year so blind builders can construct any Lego set they choose.
“We hope that someday soon any set that’s on a store shelf will be accessible,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure that blind people all over the world can enjoy the experience of Lego building.”
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