M&T First Year Crystal Yang Named to 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 – Games List
Crystal Yang (M&T’29) was recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 – Games list for her work leading Audemy, the nonprofit she founded to address a staggering gap in accessible gaming: only about 0.001% of titles are fully accessible to blind players. As founder and CEO, Yang has developed 50+ educational audio games now used in every state school for the blind. For teens and adults, Audemy has created more than 100 accessibility toolkits that unlock mainstream titles like “Minecraft,” “Valorant,” and “Roblox.”
Audemy also partners with developers and studios through its Accessibility Studio, helping teens integrate accessibility and social impact into their games from the ground up.
It’s an extraordinary achievement for an M&T first-year, and we recently sat down with Crystal to talk about the inspiration behind Audemy and what’s next for accessible gaming.
Q: What inspired you to start building audio-based learning tools in the first place?
CY: In high school, I was obsessed with Wordle – my friends and I would play every day. But one of my close friends was blind and couldn’t participate because the game wasn’t accessible.
That summer, I decided to build an audio-based version of Wordle, so she could play too. It became my first research project, and through that process I discovered something that really stayed with me – over 70% of blind and visually impaired students are at least a grade level behind, largely due to a lack of accessible learning resources.
I realized the audio algorithms I had built for Wordle could be applied to education, which led to the creation of Audemy.
Q: What has been the most meaningful piece of feedback you’ve received from students and/or educators?
CY: One of the most meaningful parts of building Audemy has been working closely with teachers for visually impaired students to make sure that the games were as accessible as possible. Through contacting schools across the nation, I’ve learned about assistive technologies, current solutions, and specialized educational materials to integrate into our games. My favorite feedback is always from students – and some of my best memories including traveling to state schools for the blind and watching students smile while learning through our games.
Q: How do you approach designing tools that make mainstream games more inclusive?
CY: We take a very user-first perspective to make sure our games and resources are as inclusive as possible. We design our games from the ground up, with accessibility at the core. To do this, our games use audio-driven navigation, clear feedback, and are compatible with assistive technologies. When designing tools for mainstream games, we read up on existing literature and content to make kits that highlight existing accessibility features in games.
Q: As an M&T first-year already leading a company, how has your time in the program thus far shaped your thinking or influenced your approach to building technology?
CY: M&T has been such an amazing experience! I come from a very tech-heavy background, so it’s new and fascinating to explore how companies work, business strategy, and take advantage of the resources Wharton has to offer. I’m grateful for all the networking opportunities, such as the alumni database and M&T specific events. On the tech side, engineering classes have been a great way to get exposed to the inner workings of some of the AI algorithms used in Audemy. It’s also been an amazing experience living with all the first-year M&Ts – I am always excited for a spontaneous hallway chat with any fellow M&Ts walking by!
Q: Looking ahead, what’s next for Audemy – and what excites you most about the future of accessible gaming and educational technology?
CY: Short-term, we are expanding Audemy’s curriculum across more subjects and grade levels, while continuing to partner with more schools and educators to refine learning outcomes. We also want to improve personalization such as adapting difficulty and pacing to each learner’s needs. Long-term, I’m excited to integrate accessibility as a core design principle in the gaming and edtech space.