.png)
San Francisco, January. 15 , 2025 - Be My Eyes (bemyeyes.com), the company that improves accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision, announced today that it is celebrating 10 years since the launch of its award-winning app. The first 10 years has been nothing short of extraordinary, filled with groundbreaking achievements, inspiring moments, an ever-growing community of blind and low-vision individuals that has now reached the incredible milestone of 750,000 people, 8.3 million sighted volunteers, 43 million user requests a year, and numerous globally-recognized brands as enterprise customers.
Just some of the milestones during the last decade are:
Be My Eyes began its journey in January 2015 with the launch of an iOS app. The simple yet powerful tool harnessed the power of collective goodwill by connecting blind and low-vision individuals with sighted volunteers through live video calls. The response was overwhelming—in the first 24 hours alone, the company welcomed over 10,000 users to its embryonic community. The moment marked the beginning of a global movement, proving the immense potential of technology to foster inclusion and support.
In February 2018, Be My Eyes took a significant step forward with the launch of Service Directory (previously known as Specialized Help). The feature allows blind and low-vision users to connect directly with an organization’s representatives for specific support and advice on the company’s products and services. Microsoft became the first partner, showcasing their commitment to accessibility and setting the stage for many collaborations to come, including Google, P&G and Hilton. This innovation redefined how businesses engage with their blind and low-vision customers.
At the beginning 2023, Be My Eyes introduced Be My AI, the first-ever AI-powered visual assistant designed for blind and low-vision individuals. After months of testing and refinement, and with the help of thousands of people from the blind community, this revolutionary tool became available to the general public in March 2023. Leveraging state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) to provide vivid descriptions of images and scenes, and in-depth context-specific help, Be My AI now serves millions of requests every month and continues to offer unparalleled visual assistance and new possibilities in previously inaccessible areas of life.
By May 2023, the Be My Eyes community had grown to include over 500,000 blind and low-vision users from over 150 countries, speaking 180+ languages. This milestone underscored the universal appeal of Be My Eyes and the impact of the company mission. Each new member brought unique stories and experiences, many of which were featured through the years on the website.
In August 2024, Be My Eyes took another bold step in advancing accessibility by acquiring AppleVis, the world’s largest community dedicated to improving the accessibility of Apple products. AppleVis has long been a cornerstone for blind and low-vision users for many years, offering resources, reviews, and a supportive community focused on making Apple’s ecosystem more inclusive. Today, applevis.com enjoys more than 2 million visits annually, and its podcasts are downloaded 1 million times a year.
October 2024 marked another transformative moment as Be My Eyes partnered with Meta to launch Be My Eyes on Ray-Ban Meta Glasses. This collaboration brought the Be My Eyes app into the wearables market, allowing users to access visual assistance, through Be My Eyes, hands-free for the first time ever. The innovation began a new era of accessibility, blending it with style, convenience, and functionality.
Be My Eyes starts 2025, the year of its 10th anniversary, with the news that it now has more than three-quarters of a million, 750,000+ users who are blind or have low-vision, now exceeds 8.3 million sighted volunteers. It serves more than 43 million AI and video user requests a year, is expanding its enterprise customer base with global brands such as Google, Microsoft, Hilton, Spotify, P&G, Unilever, and many others, is growing its revenues at over 300%, is achieving 97% customer satisfaction ratings, and continues to be the innovating accessibility-tech (a11y-tech) leader for people who are blind or have low-vision.
To honor the special birthday milestone, the company also unveiled a celebratory video featuring messages from some of its inspiring partners and supporters. Christopher J. Nassetta (CEO of Hilton), Andrew Bosworth (CTO of Meta), Sumaira Latif (Accessibility Leader at Procter & Gamble) and many more share their heartfelt wishes and reflections on 10 years of Be My Eyes.
END
About Be My Eyes
Launched in 2015, Be My Eyes is a globally recognized and award-winning access technology provider for people who are blind or have low vision. With a global community of 750,000 users, and 8.3 million volunteers, Be My Eyes connects blind and low-vision users with sighted volunteers and companies, through live video and AI to tackle inaccessible parts of everyday life, whether at home or at work; all for free to the end user. Be My Eyes is available in more than 150 countries worldwide and its volunteers speak more than 180 languages.
To learn more, please visit bemyeyes.com or join us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads and TikTok.
