Bridging the Gap: Working with Blind Go Players in Japan

When I started building Goban3D, I knew accessibility had to be at its core. What I didn't know was that a single email to Tokyo would change the entire direction of the project.

The Ai-Go Set

In Japan, the Japanese Association for Blind Go (日本視覚障害者囲碁協会) has been working for years to make Go accessible to visually impaired players. Their most remarkable achievement is the Ai-Go tactile Go set — a specially designed board with raised lines and star points that can be read by touch, and stones with grooves in eight directions that lock into the board. Players can feel the position and colour of every stone through touch alone.

The association doesn't just sell these sets — they donate them to blind schools in Japan and internationally. They hold blind Go tournaments, bringing together players who would otherwise have very few opportunities to play. Their mission statement resonated deeply with me: "Creating a world where everyone connects peacefully and equally through Go."

A Cold Email to Tokyo

In early March 2026, I wrote to the association through their website contact form. I introduced myself, explained what Goban3D was trying to do, and asked if they'd be willing to share the app with their members for testing. I wrote in English, included a Japanese translation, and hoped for the best.

The reply came within a day. Kakishima Mitsuharu, the association's representative director, wrote back with extraordinary warmth. He described a digital accessible Go experience as "like a dream". He offered to introduce Goban3D to Japanese Go media. He shared the TestFlight link with his community immediately.

That single exchange opened a door I hadn't expected.

How Blind Players Currently Play Online

One of the things I learned from these conversations is just how difficult online Go is for visually impaired players today. There is no Go app on any platform that declares accessibility features. None.

So blind players improvise. One common method is to play over a Zoom voice call: each player has a physical board in front of them, and when a stone is placed, the player announces the coordinates verbally so the opponent can mirror the move on their own board. It works, but it's slow, error-prone, and limited to people who already own a tactile set.

Another approach involves a Japanese program called Ginsei Go. The software wasn't designed for blind players, but because it reads out the coordinates of placed stones, a visually impaired player can keep a physical board beside them and manually reproduce the computer's moves. It's a workaround, not a solution.

The idea that someone could simply open an app, have the entire board read to them by VoiceOver, place stones by touch or voice, and hear each move announced — that was, as Kakishima-san put it, a dream.

Real Feedback from Real Players

Within days of sharing the TestFlight link, I started receiving feedback from visually impaired players in Japan. The first was a member of the association who installed the app, started a 9×9 game, and began navigating the board with VoiceOver.

The feedback was detailed, honest, and incredibly valuable. Early on, the app's VoiceOver readout was too verbose — announcing "intersection" at every coordinate and "empty" for every unoccupied point. The players asked me to simplify it: just read the coordinate, and only add "black" or "white" if a stone is present. That single change made the board dramatically easier to navigate.

Other suggestions followed rapidly:

• NHK-style move announcements — players asked for moves to be announced in the format used by Japanese television Go commentary: "Black, 4-4, star point." I implemented this with named positions for star points, tengen, komoku, san-san, and other key intersections on 9×9, 13×13, and 19×19 boards. The response was immediate: "Very easy to hear and understand."
• Go term announcements — one tester suggested that the app announce the shape of each move as it's played: atari, tsuke, kosumi, keima, tobi, and more. This helps players — especially beginners — understand what's happening on the board without needing to visualise it. Together we curated a list of priority terms, and the feature is now live with a toggle in settings.
• Grid-based board navigation — a player suggested that VoiceOver navigation should follow the grid like a spreadsheet: vertical flicks move between rows, horizontal flicks move between columns. This made navigating a 19×19 board dramatically faster.
• Japanese localisation — hearing all menus, VoiceOver labels, and move announcements in Japanese made the app "much easier to use" for players in Japan.

Every one of these features exists in Goban3D today because a blind player in Japan told me what they needed. I could release updates within hours, and the testers would try the new build and write back the same day. The pace of iteration was extraordinary.

The Digital Gap

Working with blind Go players has made something very clear to me: the physical accessibility work done by organisations like the Japanese Association for Blind Go is remarkable, but there is a significant digital gap.

Physical tactile sets are limited in number. They have to be manufactured, shipped, and distributed. Not everyone who wants one can get one. And even with a set, playing an opponent online still requires voice calls and manual coordination.

A fully accessible digital Go app doesn't replace the tactile set — it complements it. It means a blind player in Tokyo can play against a blind player in London without needing anything except an iPhone and a pair of headphones.

A World Tournament

In one of his messages, Kakishima-san shared a vision that stopped me in my tracks: when Goban3D is complete, he wants to organise a Blind Online Go World Tournament — bringing together visually impaired players from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and beyond to compete digitally for the first time.

The association already has connections with blind Go players across Asia. Until now, there has been no platform that could host such an event. The possibility that Goban3D could be that platform is both humbling and motivating beyond anything I could have imagined when I started this project.

What Comes Next

The collaboration with the Japanese Association for Blind Go is ongoing. Feedback continues to arrive, each message making the app a little better. The features that blind players have asked for don't just help blind players — NHK-style announcements, Go term callouts, and grid navigation make the app better for everyone.

I started Goban3D as a solo developer with no team, no funding, and no connections in the accessibility world. A single email changed that. The generosity, expertise, and enthusiasm of the blind Go community in Japan has shaped this app in ways I never could have achieved alone.

If you use assistive technologies and would like to test Goban3D, I would love to hear from you. Visit the Join the Beta page or email support@goban3d.com. Every piece of feedback from a player with accessibility needs is the most valuable input this project receives.