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Home Blog Be My Eyes Foundation Launches to Ensure Free Access to Accessibility Technology for Blind People Worldwide
March 12, 2026
San Francisco, March 12, 2026 — The newly established Be My Eyes Foundation today announced its launch at the 41st CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, with a mission to ensure that people who are blind or have low vision will always have free access to the technologies and services that help them live, work, and participate fully in society.
Building on more than a decade of innovation from Be My Eyes, the Foundation will support the ideating, development, scaling, and long-term sustainability of technologies that remove barriers faced by blind individuals across everyday life — from accessing information and navigating public spaces to participating fully in education and employment.
Globally, an estimated 340 million people live with blindness or low vision, many facing persistent barriers to independence and opportunity. While advances such as screen readers and Braille displays have transformed access to information, new technologies and digital services are often launched without accessibility in mind. The Be My Eyes Foundation aims to close that gap by ensuring blind people can benefit from the same technological progress shaping the rest of society.
The Foundation’s mission is to accelerate the development and distribution of technologies that enable blind people to navigate the world with greater independence. These include solutions powered by artificial intelligence, wearable devices, volunteer networks, and emerging digital tools designed specifically for accessibility.
“Technology is advancing rapidly, yet too often accessibility remains an afterthought,” said Bryan Bashin, President of the Be My Eyes Foundation. “Our goal is simple but ambitious: to ensure that blind people everywhere have access to the best accessibility tools available — regardless of where they live or their ability to pay.”
Since its launch in 2015, the Be My Eyes platform has grown into one of the largest accessibility communities in the world, connecting one million blind users with more than ten million volunteers who provide real-time assistance through live video and AI-powered visual descriptions.
The new Foundation will build on that success by helping fund innovation, supporting the development of new accessibility technologies, and expanding outreach — particularly in regions where access tools remain limited.
Unlike many organizations focused on medical treatment, rehabilitation, or guide services, the Be My Eyes Foundation is dedicated specifically to technological accessibility. Its goal is to ensure that emerging innovations — including AI systems, wearable devices, and digital services — work effectively for blind users.
The Foundation will also help support solutions that may never become commercially profitable but are critically important for accessibility.
“In a world built primarily for sighted people, blind individuals encounter barriers every day — from inaccessible consumer electronics to digital services that cannot be navigated with assistive technology,” said Mike Buckley, Chair of the Foundation Board. “The Foundation exists to make sure accessibility innovation keeps pace with technological change and remains free for the people who need it most.”
In its founding year, the Be My Eyes Foundation will begin assembling its board of directors and establishing a Founder’s Fund designed to support expansion, innovation, and long-term sustainability.
Among its early priorities is accelerating the development of next-generation tools such as live video AI description, which could help blind users navigate environments, read information in real time, and interact more independently with the world around them.
Maintaining these services at global scale will require significant infrastructure and computing resources. To support this mission, the Foundation aims to build an endowment capable of sustaining free access to accessibility technologies for decades to come.
The Foundation’s long-term vision is clear: a world in which the 340 million blind people globally have 24/7 access to powerful volunteers and advanced accessibility technologies — always free of charge. Through partnerships with technology companies, philanthropic donors, and accessibility leaders, the organization hopes to dramatically expand the reach of Be My Eyes services — potentially serving 50 million blind users by 2035.
“We’re not willing to wait for accessibility to catch up,” Bashin said. “The barriers blind people face are human-made — and that means they can be solved with human ingenuity.”
About the Be My Eyes Foundation
The Be My Eyes Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that blind and low-vision individuals worldwide have free access to accessibility technologies that empower independence and inclusion. The Foundation supports the development, distribution, and long-term sustainability of tools including AI-powered visual assistance, volunteer networks, and emerging accessibility technologies.
