In this commentary the author poses the question: can the “curb‐cut” phenomenon (a phenomenon holding that innovations motivated by a desire to address the challenges faced by persons with disabilities benefit the broader majority) be scaled to help address our society's greatest global challenges? The article describes an international initiative that leverages the World Wide Web to address the economic exclusion of people with disabilities and maps out how this may help to address the broader issues of our current markets, education, employment, and financial systems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.