About getowed
We build for people the web leaves out.
getowed is made by Zook Design & Marketing, a Toronto design practice run by Arlindo Codinha. Zook builds web applications for disabled people. That is the whole mission, not a side project.
Our mission
Every application we build is designed for disabled people first.
That is not charity, and it is not a list of features. Design for someone filling in a benefits form in pain, at midnight, on a five-year-old phone — and you have built something better for everyone who comes after them.
It is the standard for every project Zook takes on, whoever the client is. getowed is where it shows most clearly, because here the audience and the mission are the same people.
The people this is built for are not an edge case. They order dinner, book a table, file their taxes and raise their families like everyone else. The software is what keeps forgetting them.
Why getowed exists
Canadians who qualify for disability benefits often never receive them. The forms are long, the language is technical, and nobody is paid to explain them to you.
So people give up part way through, or never start. Money they are owed stays with the government. That is the problem getowed was built to fix.
Nobody should have to be well to get help. The hardest part is not the tax rule. It is being asked to explain yourself, in a language nobody speaks, on a day you have no energy for.
We do the explaining. In plain words, for free, for as long as it takes.
How we build
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Accessibility comes first, not last
Every page works with a screen reader, with a keyboard alone, at double the text size, and in high contrast. It is checked automatically on every single build — never saved for the week before launch.
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Plain language, always
Everything here is written for someone who is tired, in pain, or in a hurry. A computer checks the reading level each time we change a word, and the build fails if it climbs too high.
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We do not follow you around
No advertising cookies. No profile of you, sold to nobody. We count how many people read each page, using Google Analytics with its tracking switched off — nothing is put on your device, and nothing links one visit to the next. The privacy policy says exactly what is counted, and it reads in a few minutes.
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Free for individuals. Always
The people this is built for are the least able to pay for it. Clinics, legal aid offices and community agencies can license tools for their caseworkers, and that is what pays for the free side.
The three applications we build
Zook builds three applications. This is one of them. They belong to different days of your life, and they follow one rule: nobody gets designed out.
A tax credit, a dinner table and a hotel room are not the same problem. The work is the same one: making things reachable for people the software industry leaves out. One competence, not side projects.
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getowed
This site. It helps disabled Canadians claim benefits they already qualify for and have never been paid. It starts with the Disability Tax Credit, because that is the door to most of the others. Free for individuals, always.
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TableFlow (opens in a new tab)
A booking and ordering system for Canadian restaurants. Its promise is a seat for everyone. Booking a table should not need a phone call, and a menu should not need good eyes. It is built to WCAG 2.2 AA and it works in ten languages, for the diners a busy restaurant loses first: seniors, families with small children, and disabled people.
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TableFlow Hotels (opens in a new tab)
Hotel software for independent Canadian hotels, inns and B&Bs. Its promise is that the room you booked is the room you get: accessible rooms are marked with their real measurements, and a guest’s access needs go in a private note seen only by the staff who need it. The booking page and guest messages are designed to meet WCAG 2.2 AA, in eight languages. Early access opens in November 2026, waitlist first.
See the rest of the studio’s work at zook-design-marketing.ca (opens in a new tab)
Made in Canada, for Canada
getowed is built in Toronto. It covers Canadian programs — federal and provincial — and it works in English and French, because half the country should not be an afterthought.
All three applications are built here, for people here — under Canadian rules, in both official languages.
Want to talk to us?
Write in whatever words you like. We reply within two working days.