In this insightful episode of Podcasts by Dr. Kirk Adams, Dr. Adams welcomes Sucheta Narang (support@accesstrader.net), founder of Accessible World and creator of Access Trader, an accessible, screen-reader-compatible trading assistant, into a wide-ranging conversation about independence, inclusion, and financial empowerment. Born blind in a traditional North Indian family, Sucheta describes learning early that “waiting for a fix” wasn’t an option, then charts a path through mainstream education, international disability work in India and the UK, and corporate roles where she embedded accessibility at scale, including work with Wipro, Google (Chrome team), and Adobe.
Sucheta explains that losing her job became the unexpected catalyst for building Access Trader: when she tried to diversify her investments, advisors turned her away, and the trading world’s dashboards and charts proved overwhelmingly visual, forcing her to confront how much “financial independence” still relies on sighted assistance. She shares how she used AI to translate visual market data into structured descriptions her screen reader could interpret, turning a personal workaround into a platform designed “by and for” blind users, with benefits even for sighted beginners who feel overwhelmed by dense trading interfaces. Dr. Adams, drawing on his own background as a former securities broker, highlights the privacy and dignity at stake, and Sucheta closes with an invitation to sign up for early access and see Access Trader’s next steps, including a planned CSUN presentation.
TRANSCRIPT:
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Podcast Commentator: Welcome to podcasts by Doctor Kirk Adams, where we bring you powerful conversations with leading voices in disability rights, employment and inclusion. Our guests share their expertise, experiences and strategies to inspire action and create a more inclusive world. If you’re passionate about social justice or want to make a difference, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in with your host, Doctor Kirk Adams.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Welcome, everybody, to another episode of podcasts with Doctor Kirk Adams. I am that Doctor Kirk Adams talking to you from my home office in Seattle, Washington. And today I have a really interesting and amazing guest. Sucheta Narang is here. She’s the founder of Accessible World and creator of Access Trader, which is the first accessible screen reader compatible trader trading assistant. So we’re talking about securities and trading securities here. So say say hello. Sucheta.
Sucheta Narang: Hi.
Sucheta Narang: Everyone. And thank you Doctor Adams, for inviting me here. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Before I actually could you. How do I address you? Is it like Doctor Adams or Doctor Kirk?
Dr. Kirk Adams: Kirk. That’s fine.
Sucheta Narang: Okay. Thanks. Kirk. Yeah. Nice to meet you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: The doctor title comes in handy in certain circumstances, but
Sucheta Narang: Sure. I didn’t want to offend you.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m a blind person. Have been since age five. My retinas detached, went to a school for blind kids. First, second and third grade. Then on through elementary. Middle school. High school. Undergrad. Master’s, PhD. I was the only blind student in all of my in all of my schools. After I left the school for the blind.
Sucheta Narang: Wow.
Dr. Kirk Adams: But yeah, but for the first ten years out of college, I was actually a licensed securities broker. I worked for a small local brokerage firm here in Seattle that mostly underwrote tax free municipal bonds. So I was involved in underwriting new issues of tax free municipal bonds. But I also had a series seven securities license, and I did sell other securities, but I was certainly not a trader. I was a buy and holder, but I have I have been a little bit in that world. And so when I met you, I was just so, so interested in what you’re doing and what your journey has been. So would really I’d love to hear from you. Your
Sucheta Narang: Sure.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Experience with with visual impairment yourself and what motivated you and what your background is. And we want to learn everything about you in the next half hour.
Sucheta Narang: Thank you. Thank you for you know, your kind words. So, like, probably like Kirk did describe my name is Sucheta. I am a blind. I’m blind from birth. And I was born in a North Indian traditional North Indian family. I have bilateral cataracts and microphthalmia, which meant the surgery isn’t you know, straightforward or guaranteed. So very early on, I understood that waiting for a fix isn’t an option. So I built my life around independence. Just like you did. You all probably do. And so today I am here because I started Accessible World last year, and I built an accessible, screen reader compatible trading assistant for blind and low vision users. And it’s equally powerful for anyone who is new to investing.
Dr. Kirk Adams: So what’s your background? How you don’t just build something like that? No.
Sucheta Narang: No.
Dr. Kirk Adams: What is your background that led you to the point where you had the capabilities to develop something like this?
Sucheta Narang: So early on, like, you know I did studied in the mainstream schools. But obviously there was no parallel systems waiting for me, so I had to go through textbooks, exams expectations, social dynamics, and especially being in India, you know, you have to fight the stereotypes as well. And then you know, what I, what I was what I was finding was like, I was often the only blind person in a room, and that forces you to be more resourceful. So after completing my education, I did my studies in economics and political science and then moved into international development sector, where I worked with you know, disability organizations, employment public health.
Dr. Kirk Adams: This was while you were living in India?
Sucheta Narang: Yeah.
Sucheta Narang: So I started with international organizations like Handicap International, which is now called as Humanity and Inclusion. And then moved to the UK as well. Where I worked with Leonard Cheshire Disability, which is the largest disability organization in UK. My work has largely been on disability, employment, public health policies, education and inclusion overall. One thing that I realized that was so common is like the people, cultures and countries across have the same pattern, which means, you know, there is universal talent, but the infrastructure is not there. So community communities weren’t it wasn’t like communities are not prepared. Communities were there, but the infrastructure the systems didn’t support. So, you know for us to live like a blind and especially like, you know, with a low vision you’re basically in between. So after doing work for good ten years the realization was like, I don’t want to advocate for the disability inclusion from outside. I wanted to redesign the infrastructure. So that led me to the corporate where, you know, the where scale lives, basically. So I worked with Wipro embedded in inclusion in all their hire to retire policies.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And what was that? What was the name of that company?
Sucheta Narang: Wipro technologies. Okay. That’s a global IT services company headquartered in India. But they also have their offices all over the place. So I worked for them in, in the US as well. So I designed their hire to retire processes inclusive. And Wipro did received zero project award back in 2017 when I was working with them for innovative employment policies. And then you know, then I worked at Google with Chrome team, where I did realize that one design can affect millions of people. And similarly, you know, when I moved to Adobe, I integrated accessibility into procurement And product life cycles. So in all of these roles, what throughout my journey, one thing that stood out was accessibility if done systems, if it’s accessibility is embedded in the system, it there’s possibility of independence. But if it isn’t, if you retrofit it, then it does not it then it’s it’s barriers. So yeah, I mean, throughout my life, I’ve been fixing broken systems, including inclusion in everything I did from disability, employment, public health education policies to product and accessible procurement life cycles. So you were also mentioning about, you know, you were in securities earlier on like so tell me what what you did because I, I really since I built Access Trader, I was very I would say I thought that there would be people who might be interested in trading, but but the way I saw that was like, oh, the systems itself are not accessible. So how some of us were able to, you know get through to it. How people do the investing is something that is really interesting for me.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Well, it was a long time ago, so it was very analog. So it was sales was it was talking on the phone. So I Oh, okay. You know, I, I had the experience when I graduated from college with a degree in economics, I had a Phi Beta Kappa and a lot and all good, good academic accolades, and I started applying for jobs in finance. And, you know, I would send out my resume and my cover letter. These are these are actually sending letters typed.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And 1983 when I graduated from college. But you know, I’d get a phone interview would go, well, they’d invite me in for the in person and I’d come in and then you know, they’d be very confused because I’d walk in with my long white cane and a slate and stylus so I could take some notes in Braille.
Sucheta Narang: Yes.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And, you know, they had never, probably ever worked with a blind person, so could not imagine, you know, how could this blind kid do this job he’s applying for? So then I started disclosing my disability and my cover letter and just saying I’ve been blind since I was five. Here’s how I’ve done what I’ve done. Here’s how I’ll do the job. And then, you know, I wasn’t even getting the phone interviews, but my.
Sucheta Narang: Oh, yeah, that’s that’s that’s that’s.
Sucheta Narang: Actually so similar for me too.
Sucheta Narang: Yeah.
Sucheta Narang: Like when I started looking for the jobs back in 2000 and you know, people would look at your CV and they would be very impressed. They’ll call you for interview. But the minute you tell them that you are blind, they will be like, oh, how are you going to work? At that time we didn’t like had a lot of yeah. Like, you know, the screen was being developed and stuff. The infrastructure wasn’t as developed. But that didn’t mean that, you know, we can’t do the job. So.
Sucheta Narang: Right. But my.
Dr. Kirk Adams: My, my resume landed on the desk of a sales manager for this brokerage firm. And he’d gone to my same college, also a econ major. He called some of the professors we’d had in common and basically asked, could, could Kirk Adams sell tax free bonds on the phone? He said.
Sucheta Narang: Sure.
Dr. Kirk Adams: So anyway, it was it was calling people talking to them about these upcoming issues of new municipal securities.
Sucheta Narang: Right.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Securing the orders. And then, you know, we we had sales assistance. So when I got an order, the sales assistant would fill out the the order ticket. And so my, my job was 90% of the time was just talking, talking on the telephone. And I did that for ten years. Straight.
Sucheta Narang: Ten years. Yeah. Wow.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Great. Commission made good money for a kid in his 20s. Got I was able to get married and buy a house and kids and do the things, but.
Sucheta Narang: Wow, that’s.
Dr. Kirk Adams: It wasn’t what I wanted to do the rest of my life. So I pivoted into the nonprofit sector and, you know, eventually you know, had the privilege and honor of leading the lighthouse for the blind and then the American Foundation for the blind and going to get my PhD in leadership and change. And now I have my consulting company. So it’s been a it’s been a kind of a long, long.
Sucheta Narang: Winding, long ride.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Long winding road. But I’ve learned. Always learned a lot. Along each, each phase and and met some wonderful people along each phase.
Sucheta Narang: But but you’ve done so well. Yeah.
Dr. Kirk Adams: So, you know, I know Harrison Hoy is is a blind gentleman who’s a broker who’s involved in securities. He’s interviewed me on my I’ve been on his podcast, which is called careers for the for the blind. So I know he’s interested in securities. I know Gina Harper blind woman who’s awesome, who retired as one of the top wealth advisors for Morgan Stanley.
Sucheta Narang: Oh, wow. Okay.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. So I know there are blind people out there who I’d be happy to. I’m happy to work with you to to connect, but I’m. I’m intrigued. You know Leonard Cheshire, Google web pro, Adobe, these, these jobs you’ve had. And then how does that lead you to thinking I need to make trading accessible for people? Are you were you are you know.
Sucheta Narang: So it was it wasn’t that simple. Like the trading wasn’t something that I thought I would get into, but I forced. But I was like forced. So like, I have been a guinea pig in, in a lot of things, but this was something I never expected. So, you know two years ago, I got laid off my role was eliminated, and that changed everything. So people would think, like, okay, you got laid off, so you’re supposed to look for a job. But I was actually looking for areas where the registered investment advisors. Because my portfolio wasn’t diversified. So I come from a background you know, a traditional Indian background where you know, women are not women really don’t have to deal with the money. It’s it’s just like usually men, most of the times it’s like that. So they are the earners and you know, you would think, oh, they they give you money and you spend. So I was financially I was not really I would call I was literate, I would say.
Sucheta Narang: Okay.
Sucheta Narang: In that way. So you know, I started reaching out to these investment advisors to figure out what am I going to do with the you know, my, my portfolio because everything is in just one stock, and these investment advisors would turn me away because they would say, oh, you’re not a millionaire, you know? And so we will not be able to work with you. And then I started you know, checking with fiduciaries who are supposed to, you know, they are the ones who keep your interest. They’re legally obligated to you know, protect your interests first. But they were quoting thousands of dollars just to begin with. And come on. I just lost a job, you know? I was just asking for something. That is pretty normal for. I would say so, you know, that that you could teach someone and and, you know, help them understand. And so the problem was I was like, okay, you know what? I’m going to deal with it myself. So I started using I did some courses and I also read books and everything was so over whelming. Visually, the charts, the dashboards, the indicators, the signals, everything is visual.
Sucheta Narang: The system actually assumes that everyone who’s trying to invest has sight. And that was my frustration that I built. It’s been like two decades I spend fixing broken systems across globally. And here I was needing, you know, sighted assistance for my financial independence. That’s that’s just I just couldn’t take that anymore. And I was like, okay financial independence is non-negotiable for me. And so I started experimenting, using AI to translate all those visual charts and dashboards to make sense out of it. And over time, I realized that, okay, AI can actually help me. It can be it can translate your visual data. Visual clues into structured semantic descriptions that my screen reader can interpret independently. And I was able to then start trading. And that realization was phenomenal, that if someone who comes from who was like, who has never dealt with any stocks equities before and now is, you know, she’s starting to trade and she is able to like, you know getting some traction. So some something that started as a personal workaround to pay my bills, to pay my mortgage.
Sucheta Narang: Yeah.
Sucheta Narang: Actually evolved into a trading platform that was that that I built. And then I started sharing with, you know, some close people to see how they are trading or even how do they invest long term investment, short term, you know, short swings or whatever, you know, day trades, options. And I did meet some people. And when I showed them what I was using to you know, I the way I got my AI, I optimized my AI to translate the. Complex market data into structured semantic natural language descriptions, which I was able to interpret, and my screen reader was able, you know, I could use the screen reader to independently place trades. And when I.
Sucheta Narang: Shared.
Dr. Kirk Adams: That this this is accessible, but it’s also useful for people who don’t need nonvisual access. So just.
Sucheta Narang: Correct.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yes, any person who would appreciate learning this way rather than visually people with other print disabilities or people who’s chosen way to learn and absorb information would be text based rather than visual.
Sucheta Narang: Could be. Absolutely.
Sucheta Narang: Actually, it’s like you know, it’s a very simple interface where you would look, look up for a star stock and then, you know, you can verify accessible charts, you can review the news and view the fundamentals. And then, you know, just ask AI anything that you don’t understand. And then place a trade with the simple order form. This use case, this simple app we’ve tested, you know, we’ve had a good three week pilot program in December, which not only included blind and low vision people, but it also included sighted people who just because you know, people get overwhelmed with so much data, which is out there visually it’s dense dashboards and people find it hard to even understand what it means unless someone is already educated. Someone who knows trading hard trader like from years, you know.
Sucheta Narang: Yeah.
Sucheta Narang: So with using AI to translate the non. So translate the basically complex market data which is visually into structure structure I would say structure so structured descriptions that a screen reader is able to interpret is something that was not existing when I was struggling to find. And you know, the the traditional brokerage platforms have partial accessibility. We are able to go through everything and, you know have the information, but they are not designed with accessibility in mind. And access trader from day one is designed by and for blind people. Our team is all the accessible and inclusion, accessibility and inclusion professionals, experts. And they, you know, they they are helping me develop this. And the pilot program we did in December really had a very strong feedback and we refined on it. And now we are like almost ready to launch at season in March. And we are also open for like early access. So people who just want to like have financial take charge of of your financial independence, please go on and, you know, try it out. Let’s build something that we all need ourselves.
Dr. Kirk Adams: And how can people connect people who are who are listening, who are interested in learning more and exploring and following along. How? How do people engage with you?
Sucheta Narang: Yeah. So.
Sucheta Narang: People can go on to access trader Dot net and sign up for early access. We are currently, you know, the site is accessible. You should be able to see what it is and, you know what information you need or just reach out to me at support at Access Trader Dot and.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Access Trader net.
Sucheta Narang: Correct.
Sucheta Narang: And you know, we will we will be in season. So come see us. We will be presenting on I think it is March 13th at 10:00. And, you know, I would love to see people there who really want to take charge of your own finances without sighted assistance or, you know, compromising any privacy.
Dr. Kirk Adams: You know, it’s really interesting. You’re using AI and you’re addressing an area that’s really a touch point because of privacy and the fact that blind people such as myself, have have so often needed sighted assistance on matters that can be considered deeply private. One being medical, one being financial.
Sucheta Narang: Right.
Dr. Kirk Adams: You’re really addressing some wonderful things and also empowerment. You know, culturally, you mentioned the culture of in India, women are not empowered to handle their own financial matters, but you, you certainly take taken that on head on and you’re, you’re dealing with that. So there’s there’s lots of interesting dynamics here.
Sucheta Narang: Yeah. I think, you know.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Where do you see things going? Ideally, I’m sure you have a vision for what you’d like to see Access trader become. What are you thinking?
Sucheta Narang: Yeah. You’re right. Actually, you know using AI can be sometimes skeptical. But if you use AI you know, you could control and optimize it. And the way we have used AI in Access Trader is basically, you know, providing that AI all the feeds which are which you would see on a brokerage platform. And then when you ask AI any question, it doesn’t hallucinate. It only gives you the interpretation of what it sees on the screen. So if you have like a chart open and you go back and ask AI what you know, what you want to know about that, that particular stock the AI would refer the information that’s been fed to it by the access trader platform, and then it translates you translate the information to you, which you can very well verify by, you know, going through the rest of the information that has never been accessible and now is through access trader meaning one UI that gives you news, you give that gives you fundamentals, that gives you accessible charts and that gives you AI, and that also gives you portfolio and positions to see over time how you are doing. And, you know, you have the order forms to, you know, you you can place the order independently. And right now this is like just stocks and ETFs. But we the way I see this is so accessible. Access trader is a is starting as a trading assistant. But essentially it’s actually the accessible layer that fintech never built. So we’re building an infrastructure where accessibility is at core. Everything that is going to be available on that platform is going to be accessible from day one, rather than retrofitting it. Well, and, you know.
Dr. Kirk Adams: If the if the young Kirk Adams, at age 21, embarking into the world, trying, trying to be a part of the world of financial matters and banking and securities and investments, if I had access treatment I can’t imagine how different my world would have been.
Sucheta Narang: So yeah. Same here.
Dr. Kirk Adams: There are some. There are some young people or parents of young, blind people listening to this right now who are getting very excited and they’re jumping up and they’re going to access Trader Net, signing up for alerts. And you’re just so I’m so happy that we connected.
Sucheta Narang: You know, same here.
Dr. Kirk Adams: I’m so many wonderful people doing so many transformational things in the world to make it more accessible for us and more inclusive of us. And you’re one of them. So I just really, really, really, really appreciate you.
Sucheta Narang: Thank you. I just feel like, you know, we we just have to stand up for ourselves. And that’s what I have learned. You know the systems would scale if you have accessibility from the beginning. But if you try to retrofit it and bring it later, it won’t. It will be a barrier. So you know, I just feel like I would. I am so grateful for the opportunity that because of me, at least, some people, even if, like a small percentage of people are able to benefit, then I would, you know, I would feel like I did something good for the community. And, you know, I’m using it daily. So, you know, I and I will be so excited to share with you at the time of season. We can give you a demo, how it works and everything. So, you know, come see us.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. And I said your name wrong again because JAWS says Sucheta not Sucheta. So Sucheta Narang, thank you so much for being my guest. Everyone go to https://AccessTrader.net. Connect with Sucheta. And as for me, Doctor Kirk Adams, you can go to my website, https://DrKirkAdams.com, and sign up for my newsletter. Or find me on LinkedIn. @KirkAdamsPhD. And the time flew by Sucheta and thank you. See, you will be. You will be a triumph at CSUN.
Sucheta Narang: And thank you so much I.
Dr. Kirk Adams: We’ll all we’ll all follow the journey by going to https://AccessTrader.net. And thank you so much and thank you.
Sucheta Narang: Have a nice day.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Yeah. We’ll see you all next time.
Sucheta Narang: Thanks. Awesome.
Dr. Kirk Adams: Doctor Kirk Adams. Bye bye.
Sucheta Narang: Bye.
Podcast Commentator: Thank you for listening to podcasts by Doctor Kirk Adams. We hope you enjoyed today’s conversation. Don’t forget to subscribe, share or leave a review at https://www.DrKirkAdams.com. Together we can amplify these voices and create positive change. Until next time, keep listening, keep learning and keep making an impact.
” Inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s a strategic advantage. “
Dr. Kirk Adams, Ph.D.
Advocate, Leader and Keynote Speaker on Disability Inclusion & Leadership
Leading the Way to Accessible Innovation
Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI)
Executive Director
Strengthening individual and organizational capability for creating diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces.
Innovative Impact, LLC Consulting
Managing Director
Impactful Workforce Inclusion Starts Here
American Foundation for the Blind
Immediate Past President & CEO
To create a world of no limits for people who are blind or visually impaired.
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