From Diagnosis to Development: Building Celio!
Three years ago, my life took an unexpected turn when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Like many dealing with this condition, I found myself constantly struggling to communicate my dietary needs, especially when traveling or dining out. The language barrier only compounded this challenge. As society changes and grows, I realized that the tools available to celiac patients remained stagnant.
Communicating food allergies can be both difficult and almost impossible while traveling abroad. This became evident to me as I began traveling to other countries and I experienced this problem. It’s hard to explain to your diet to a person who’s never heard of celiac, but even harder when they speak a different language. I wanted find a way to combat this problem and that sparked the idea for Celio. Celio is a web application designed to help people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivities safely communicate their dietary needs in multiple languages.
A Perfect Example of Technology Meeting Real Needs
Celio isn’t just another web app it’s a response to a legitimate need in the celiac community. The application allows users to create personalized emergency medical cards that translate crucial dietary information into six languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese. For added personalization, I’ve included themes so folks can feel more connected to their cards. Eventually, I want to add more useful functionality along with some more features designed to make the cards more engaging. This will hopefully lead to more usage!
My biggest issue with existing solutions was their legitimacy and practicality. A legitimate solution is one that truly addresses the challenges faced by its users. Celio tackles this by offering features like QR code sharing, printable cards, country-specific travel guides, and an AI assistant (Sage) powered by Claude for personalized advice.
The Technical Journey
Building Celio has been an immense overreach into new territories for me as a developer. I’ve had to stretch beyond my comfort zone, learning and implementing:
- Django 5.1.5 and Python 3.13 for the backend
- TailwindCSS and HTMX for a responsive, dynamic frontend without complex JavaScript
- PostgreSQL with JSONField for handling translations efficiently
- ReportLab for generating downloadable emergency cards
- Dynamic QR code generation for shareable links
As I stated earlier, technologies are not perfect. This is because people are not perfect, and we never will be. Throughout development, I’ve encountered numerous challenges that required creative problem-solving and persistent debugging. Each solution has made me a stronger, more resilient developer.
Beyond the Code
Celio represents more than just code to me, it’s a practical tool that addresses a real need in the celiac community. It’s designed with a mobile-first approach for travelers on the go, or anyone looking to communicate their dietary needs effectively and safely.
In my opinion, it is especially necessary to innovate when existing solutions fail to protect the interests of vulnerable communities. Celio is my contribution to this cause, and I hope it helps many others navigate the challenges of living with celiac disease, especially when traveling across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
