After doing some searching I found a page documenting Vector Capital's
acquisition of Freedom Scientific in 2015. Five years later FS has not
only continued with its products but JAWS has actually become more
affordable in the consumer market, including being made available for
free for one year when purchasing a computer from Computers for the
Blind and the fact that their home annual license has made JAWS,
Zoomtext and Fusion incredibly affordable for consumers.
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
JAWS Certified, 2019
WWW.DavidGoldfield.org
On 2/23/2020 1:22 AM, David Goldfield wrote:
Robin, I totally agree re: AIRA being bought by an investment company. In fact, hadn't a similar thing happened with Freedom Scientific?
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
JAWS Certified, 2019
WWW.DavidGoldfield.org
On 2/23/2020 1:14 AM, Robin Frost wrote:
Hi,
I cannot tell you how many times I've used Aira and team viewer when updating my email addresses on inaccessible sites and the like. It's a wonder they're not like you again really (laughs)?. I had the Horizon glasses for a while too but found that I didn't use them enough to justify their cost so I returned them still I'm glad they're there for those who can use them more often than I did.
And I hope people will stop jumping to conclusions of doom since they were acquired by an investment company. It doesn't necessarily mean the sky is falling rather maybe it means a fresh infusion of potential funds to keep it nice and solvent for a good long while to come.
Take good care.
Robin
On 2/23/2020 12:38 AM, Merv Keck wrote:
I use AIRA as well. I bought the Horizon kit and almost returned it because I had not used it after paying on it for several months. Then I suddenly began finding uses for it as well. so I’m glad I have both my iPhone app as well as the glasses when needed.
I also use Team viewer at least once a month with AIRA.
Merv
*From:* blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On Behalf Of *David Goldfield
*Sent:* Sunday, February 23, 2020 12:29 AM
*To:* blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [blind-philly-comp] Re: Be My Eyes Raises $2.8M in Funding for App to Support Blind and Visually Impaired - InvisionMag
Hi, Robin. I also use AIRA for a lot of tasks. I've used it at home, at work and for navigating airports. My wife actually suggested doing some AIRA demos for a future meeting and I'm curious to know if this is of interest to any of you.
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
JAWS Certified, 2019
WWW.DavidGoldfield.org <https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.davidgoldfield.org%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C7759a92ce69e412fbe2908d7b828cdc4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637180357691476121&sdata=vAM9Yolk07uqlLUgws5SXJUr3BrrIj0SpHoLhTJo5mI%3D&reserved=0>
On 2/22/2020 8:36 PM, Robin Frost wrote:
Hi,
I've never used Be My Eyes yet but have to admit I use Aira more
often now than I ever thought I would when I first joined last
year. It has become an invaluable resource to me and I
definitely feel like I get my money's worth out of it but also
appreciate the free access offers such as those from Vispero in
conjunction with JFW.
Robin
On 2/22/2020 7:02 PM, David Goldfield wrote:
I'm very glad that we have services such as Be My Eyes as
well as AIRA. I'm wondering if any of you have made use of
either of these services and how they've been able to help
you. While I do tend to prefer AIRA I've used Be My Eyes for
simple tasks, such as identifying a bottle of medicine late
at night when my wife was sleeping as well as a few other
similar tasks. I will say that I used the specialized help
feature to contact Google support to help resolve an issue I
was having with Google Chrome and it was one of the worst
tech support calls I've had to make in quite some time. I
did speak to a representative from Be My Eyes about it and
I'm hopeful that my experience is an exception and not the norm.
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
JAWS Certified, 2019
WWW.DavidGoldfield.org
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On 2/22/2020 1:13 AM, David Goldfield wrote:
"google accessibility" - Google News - Wednesday,
February 19, 2020 at 1:37 PM
Be My Eyes Raises $2.8M in Funding for App to Support
Blind and Visually Impaired - InvisionMag
SAN FRANCISCO — Be My Eyes, the mobile app that allows
anyone to assist visually impaired people through live
video calls, has raised $2.8 million in funding. The
investment allows the company to further develop its
“purpose and profit” business model while keeping the
visual support service free and unlimited for all
visually impaired users, according to a press release.
The Series A round, led by Cultivation Capital, also
welcomed new board members Paul Weber (Cultivation
Capital) and Michael Buckley (angel investor and former
vice president of global communications at Facebook). Be
My Eyes has previously been backed by angels and
investment funding from the likes of Singularity
University, the founders of Zendesk and the LightHouse
for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco.
Be My Eyes solves a simple problem for users: It calls
up a real person, on demand, to describe what’s in front
of a blind user’s camera. Initially supported entirely
by volunteers, Be My Eyes recently announced that it
would begin partnering with companies to provide
expert-level support through a new feature in the app
(Specialized Help
<https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcts.businesswire.com%2Fct%2FCT%3Fid%3Dsmartlink%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.bemyeyes.com%252Fspecialized-help%26esheet%3D52174404%26newsitemid%3D20200218005401%26lan%3Den-US%26anchor%3DSpecialized%2BHelp%26index%3D1%26md5%3Df397f2893decdc97a16edc913ad762b7&data=02%7C01%7C%7C7759a92ce69e412fbe2908d7b828cdc4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637180357691486115&sdata=WVBJKZ6FWCtn1SDZcP9QcfORP1uQbblSAYRKtO559cE%3D&reserved=0>).
Microsoft signed on as Be My Eyes’ first video support
partner in 2018, followed by Google, Lloyds Banking
Group, and Procter & Gamble, who now all provide video
customer support to the BME community, which spans more
than 175 countries. Companies can provide Specialized
Help globally or by region, and support services are
free to Be My Eyes users.
“In call centers around the world, we’ve seen the Be My
Eyes software greatly reduce ticket handling times and
increase satisfaction rates, from both support agents
and blind or low vision callers,” says Alexander
Hauerslev Jensen, chief commercial officer at Be My
Eyes. “What’s more, each call that a company receives
brings attention to parts of the product or service that
can be designed more inclusively.”
Kyndra LoCoco, partner and programs manager at Google
Accessibility, added, “The Google Disability Support
team is thrilled to be building a more accessible
support experience through the Be My Eyes app. It’s our
hope that others join us on this journey.”
Advertisement
With a community of users that has doubled in size each
year since 2015, Be My Eyes’ “micro-volunteering”
platform “has become beloved amongst blind and sighted
users alike,” according to the release.
“Fueled by inspiring stories and viral social media
posts of strangers connecting across oceans to help one
another, the small startup has amassed what amounts to
the world’s largest global community of visually
impaired people (almost 200,000), and a volunteer
community many times that size (more than 3.5M).”
“Be My Eyes is a great example of how technology can
help bring communities together and empower people who
are blind or with low vision,” says Neil Barnett,
director of inclusive hiring and accessibility at
Microsoft. “By working together with Be My Eyes, their
incredible sighted volunteers, and the growing community
of organizations participating in the Specialized Help
program, we can help more people around the world live
independent lives. We are honored to be part of this
vibrant community and provide support for all of their
customers through our Disability Answer Desk services.”
“As we grow and age, we all need help seeing at some
point,” says Be My Eyes CEO Christian Erfurt, who
co-founded the company with a legally blind craftsman
named Hans Jørgen Wiberg in 2014. “It’s been a pleasure
to see that not only do people want to give their time
to support this large population – but companies want to
make their customer service offerings more accessible.
For them, we’ve built a simple but beautiful tool.”
Erfurt says the corporate partnership business model was
conceived so that Be My Eyes will never have to charge
blind users for the service. “We believe that access to
sight is a human right, and you don’t charge people for
that.”
Watch a video about the service:
Advertisement
[embedded content]
https://invisionmag.com/be-my-eyes-raises-2-8m-in-funding-for-app-to-support-blind-and-visually-impaired/
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David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info
<https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.davidgoldfield.info%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C7759a92ce69e412fbe2908d7b828cdc4%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637180357691496110&sdata=oIH5GXQGQuRkkH0ZBilcoeWYLWsV0ZCMWUEtqhAarCo%3D&reserved=0>
