Introduction

You are more than welcome to use any tools, models, APIs, frameworks or libaries as you like. Your solution does not have to use AI. 

The focus is on solving a real problem faced by students that limit their university experience. Use whatever technology you want that helps you build the best possible solution. It could be an AI-powered application, a website, app, physical product - you name it. 

The resources below have been selected because they offer free access, free tiers, open-source tools or student benefits that can be useful during the hackathon. Some services have usage limits or require eligibility so review the terms before getting started. 

Tools and Technologies

AI Models & APIs

Google Gemini API — access Google's AI models for text, images, audio and multimodal applications. Selected models have a free API tier, making it useful for building AI assistants, document analysis tools and personalised experiences.

OpenRouter — access a wide range of AI models through a single API. Includes free models, making it useful for experimenting with different models and approaches.

Groq — provides fast inference for open AI models, with a free developer tier suitable for experimenting with AI-powered applications.

Hugging Face — explore thousands of open-source models for text, image recognition, speech, translation, embeddings and other machine-learning tasks.

Accessibility, Audio & Vision

MediaPipe — ready-made tools for computer vision, gesture recognition, pose detection and other on-device AI applications.

ElevenLabs — speech-to-text, text-to-speech and other audio AI tools. Useful for building accessible interfaces, voice assistants and audio-based experiences. A free tier is available with usage limits.

WAVE — accessibility evaluation tools that help identify issues with website structure, contrast, navigation and other accessibility requirements.

axe DevTools — browser-based accessibility testing tools that help identify potential accessibility issues in your website or application.

Building & Hosting

Supabase — provides databases, authentication, file storage and backend functionality, with a free plan suitable for prototypes.

Vercel — deploy websites and web applications using its free Hobby plan.

Streamlit — quickly turn Python code into interactive applications, particularly useful for data-driven projects and AI prototypes.

Gradio — quickly build user interfaces around Python code and machine-learning models without needing to build a frontend from scratch.

GitHub — store your code, collaborate with teammates and explore existing open-source projects that could help you build your solution.

Design & Prototyping

Figma — design interfaces, create interactive prototypes and collaborate on product ideas. Students may be eligible for free Figma Professional access through Figma for Education.

Framer — quickly design and publish websites without needing to write everything from scratch.

Lovable — use AI to generate websites and applications from natural-language descriptions, helping you get an idea into a working prototype quickly.

These are suggestions, not requirements. You can use any technology you like, and you don't need to use AI just for the sake of it. We recommend checking pricing and usage limits before using paid APIs so that you don't unexpectedly run out of credits during the hackathon.

Inspiration

The university experience is different for everyone. Look at these products for inspiration on how technology can remove barriers, create opportunities and make everyday experiences more accessible:

- UniBuddy connects prospective and current student with their university communities. 
- AccessAble provides detailed accessibility information about buildings and venues 
- Blackbullion tackles financial pressure by making financial support easier to understand

Contact Us & Support Channels

Message the CS society or the Women in STEM society on their WhatsApp channel or email them

GitHub Student Developer Pack — access free developer tools, services and resources available to eligible students.

GitHub — collaborate on code, manage projects and explore open-source repositories.

Figma for Education — free professional design tools for eligible students and educators.

Hugging Face Spaces — explore and experiment with interactive AI applications and open-source projects.

WAVE Accessibility Checker — check your website for potential accessibility issues.

axe DevTools — test your prototype against common web accessibility requirements.

Google AI Studio — experiment with Google's AI models and quickly prototype AI-powered ideas.

Free Models on OpenRouter — explore AI models currently available to use for free.

MDN Web Docs — useful guides and documentation for building websites and web applications.