I’ve been incredibly lucky in finding amazing people to dream and collaborate with. Here you can read more about some of my past and present projects and partnerships.
MieleLab
Projects & Collaborations
CAOS – The Center for Accessibility and Open Source (CAOS)
CAOS – The Center for Accessibility and Open Source (CAOS) is a unique NGO dedicated to supporting SUSTAINABLE accessibility and disability inclusion in every aspect of open-source projects and communities. Dr. Miele founded CAOS because people with disabilities everywhere must have equitable access to the educational and economic opportunities afforded by open-source tools and resources.
Learn more about CAOS – The Center for Accessibility and Open Source (CAOS)
The Blind Arduino Project
The Blind Arduino Project opens opportunities for blind and visually-impaired makers to use non-visual techniques to build creatively and accessibly using the tools of the hobby-robotics movement – Arduino, Raspberry PI, and more. This grassroots community was founded in 2016 by Dr. Miele and others to provide hands-on experience with non-visual coding, soldering, designing, building, and other aspects of electronics accessibility and design. This inclusive community welcomes participants with all levels of vision, including sighted allies, and encourages beginners and experts equally. It offers regular meetups, periodic workshops, occasional events, and is currently building a web site to include a repository of online resources and tutorials.
Distinguished Fellow of Disability, Accessibility, and Design
Dr. Miele is Distinguished Fellow of Disability, Accessibility, and Design at the University of California at Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute. This position fosters opportunities for close collaboration with faculty, students, and staff across the Berkeley campus working in the overlapping areas of disability, accessibility, and design. These include Berkeley’s RAD Lab, Jacobs Institute, Disability Cultural Center, and Masters of Design Program.
Learn more about Distinguished Fellow of Disability, Accessibility, and Design
UW CREATE
The University of Washington is home to one of the most vibrant and productive academic communities working and thinking in the space of disability and technology – the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences. Dr. Miele is delighted to be collaborating and advising on several projects related to accessibility and open source with CREATE students and faculty.
East Bay Center for the Blind
Dr. Miele is on the board of directors of the East Bay Center – a very small, volunteer-based blindness organization providing a uniquely Berkeley flavor of educational, mentorship, referral, and recreational services for a welcoming and diverse blind community.
“Connecting Dots – A Blind Life” with Wendell Jamieson
Dr. Miele’s 2025 memoir chronicles his New York childhood, his evolving understanding of his blind identity as a college student at Berkeley, his career in nonprofits and big tech designing cool technologies for blind people, and his family, friends, and adventures along the way. Author, journalist, and Brooklyn neighbor Wendell Jamieson was the indispensable collaborative force behind telling this story and making this book happen.
Learn more about “Connecting Dots – A Blind Life” with Wendell Jamieson
YouDescribe
YouDescribe is a free webapp allowing anyone to add audio description to any YouTube video and share it with the world. Launched in 2013, Dr. Miele led the creation of YouDescribe while directing The Smith-Kettlewell Video Description Research and Development Center. Although no longer actively working on YouDescribe, he remains actively engaged with the YouDescribe community, advising and collaborating on related technologies and publications.
TMAP
Dr. Miele has a deep passion for, and commitment to, the importance of high-quality tactile maps and graphics in the lives and work of blind people. Tactile Maps Automated Production (TMAP) began life as Dr. Miele’s 2003 postdoc project at Smith-Kettlewell. Now owned and operated by the Media and Accessible Design Lab (MADLab) at the San Francisco LightHouse, TMAP is a web-based service automating the process of creating well-formatted, tactile street maps of almost any location in the world, expanding options and opportunities for blind travelers as they live, work,and play.
Touch Graphics
Many creative solutions for accessible education and wayfinding have resulted from Dr. Miele’s close collaboration with Steve Landau of Touch Graphics, Inc. Over decades, Dr. Miele has contributed to the design and development of Touch Graphics’ highly-innovative, interactive audio/tactile products such as the T3, STEM Binder, Talking Tactile Pen, accessible wayfinding kiosks, and the Power Chord.
Amazon Lab 126
Amazon Lab 126 – in 2019, Dr. Miele joined Amazon Lab 126 as a Principal Accessibility Researcher, helping to create delightful accessibility features for devices such as Fire TV, Fire Tablet, and Echo Show. In 2024, he became a part-time Amazon Design Scholar, a role allowing him to continue to help guide the non-visual customer experience for Amazon devices, and advise widely across the company on inclusive design and accessible research.