Maxim Zhuravlev, web designer, app developer, founder of the web design studio “White Cat”, Saint Petersburg

Maxim lives in Saint Petersburg. Educated as a biophysicist and veterinarian, he quit his job some years ago, feeling overwhelmed. Now, he runs a small design studio named “White Cat” that makes adaptations of websites and other resources for people with visual, hearing and motor impairments. 

As a person with severe hearing impairment himself, he knows too well how difficult it is to use web resources which are mostly non-adapted for people with special needs. 

Currently, he has been working on his own project called “School for the Deaf”. While studying web design, he found himself in trouble to receive good learning materials, resources and applications suitable for people with sensory disabilities. “There is actually no such school in the whole of Russia. On 90% of all Russian learning platforms, there are no training courses with subtitles or any adaptation at all”, says Maxim. Thanks to his work, there will be several courses on animation, websites, website development, digital resources and 3D modeling.

Maxim finances all the work out of his own pocket and aims at developing a product first before presenting it to investors. Now, Maxim’s studio has about ten regular customers who place orders every month. New clients are also coming, mostly attracted by satisfied customers.