Welcome to Vision-Aid
Enabling, Educating and Empowering the visually impaired to live with independence and dignity.
Through our network of Vision-Aid resource centers across India and our rich offering of online programs Vision-Aid provides a comprehensive range of devices , training and services which offers holistic vision enhancement and vision rehabilitation programs for adults and children who are blind or who have low vision. Vision-Aid’s innovative programs have won national and international awards and are helping us to bring independence and dignity to over thirty thousand visually impaired each year. Please watch this short video for a quick summary of our work .
Come join hands with us – your contribution at any level can make a difference – whether it is providing an assistive device or supporting training and education or helping us start a new center, your support is welcome and will help us create a lasting impact!
What's New
Mr. Sumanta Banerjee, 42, is pursuing a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) with the aspiration of building a career in teaching.
A resident of Bankura district, West Bengal, Sumanta currently stays in a hostel away from his family while pursuing his studies. With significant visual impairment, accessing printed materials and visual information can be challenging, making access to appropriate assistive technology particularly important for his education and daily life.
Praveen Kumar is a visually impaired para-athlete from India whose journey is shaped by determination, discipline, and dedication. As a javelin throw athlete, he has competed at national and international levels and proudly represented India.
Vision-Aid’s “Ability Bazaar: Talent with Disabilities, Apps Without Barriers” has been named a Runner-Up winner in the global Build with Gemini XPRIZE, receiving a $50,000 award! This is an extraordinary recognition for a Vision-Aid initiative that came together in just 3 short months.
The Vision-Aid Resource Center at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, conducted a comprehensive school-based outreach camp at Arani Blind School, Tamil Nadu, bringing specialized eye care, low vision assessment, and vision rehabilitation services closer to children with visual impairment.
Vision-Aid’s AI powered Ability Bazaar makes it to the top 100 finalists in 2026 Google Gemini X Prize Global Hackathon
We are delighted to share some wonderful news which landed this week! 🎉 Vision-Aid’s AI-powered Ability Bazaar has made the Top 100 finalists in the global Build with Gemini XPRIZE competition!
For those who missed the earlier announcement, Ability Bazaar is Vision-Aid’s new initiative using AI and the talents of people who are blind or visually impaired to deliver digital services – creating meaningful, paid work opportunities and livelihoods. (Visit https://www.abilitybazaar.com/ for more details)
The $2M global hackathon by Google & X Prize, attracted 26,459 entrepreneurs this year of which ~1,400 made the initial shortlist of projects. From these the judges picked the top 100, and we’re thrilled to be among just 100 projects advancing to the finals!
By September 18, five teams will be invited to pitch at the Moonshot Summit on September 25, in LA, when the grand winners will be announced. Fingers crossed! 🤞
Making it to the top 100 in a global AI competition in itself is something to be proud of and a huge thank you to everyone who participated, contributed, placed orders or supported us. Thank you for placing your faith in us, and helping to propel us to the top 100! It takes a village! We’ll keep you posted.
May the force be with Ability Bazaar! 🚀
Here is the Official Top 100 list announced by Moonshots and Google:
https://gxp.moonshots.com/
Smart Vision Glasses: Two Journeys Towards Greater Independence
Access to the right assistive technology can make a meaningful difference in the lives of people with visual impairment. For Karan and Riddhi, Smart Vision Glasses (SVG) have helped make education, daily activities, and independent living more accessible
At just three years old, Sri Saradha is showing remarkable progress despite living with Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delay, and Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI). Her visual assessment revealed reduced vision and optic nerve involvement, affecting the way her brain processes visual information.
ANDOVER, Mass. — Vision-Aid filled the Collins Center for the Performing Arts in Andover with supporters, sponsors, volunteers, and performers on Sunday, July 26, 2026, as the nonprofit marked its 22nd anniversary with the Broadway-style dance production “Brothers in Arms: The Lions of Sivaganga.” Set in late-1700s India and told through the eyes of a remorseful British Colonel, the production brought to life the inspiring story of the Marudhu Brothers and Queen Velu Nachiar — the fearless ruler credited with raising the first women’s army — in an evening of powerful music, dance, drama, and storytelling that celebrated courage, culture, community, and compassionate service.
Vision-Aid teams across 75 locations in India continued to transform lives through vision rehabilitation, empowerment, and inclusive eye care. Over 6,770 rehabilitation sessions and interventions supported nearly 6,000 beneficiaries, while Project CHASHMA benefited more than 19,085 children. Here are some of the key highlights and activities from the resource centers.
LEXINGTON, Mass. For more than twenty-two years, Vision-Aid, the Lexington-based nonprofit founded by Indian-American volunteers, has helped people with vision loss learn, work and live independently, serving 100,000+ beneficiaries across 80+ locations in India. This month it launched an ambitious new initiative: Ability Bazaar (www.abilitybazaar.com), an online marketplace where people with disabilities build, test and sell accessible, technology-based apps and services, and get paid as the professionals they are. The idea is simple: the people who navigate a world full of digital barriers every day are among the best qualified to find and fix those barriers. The Ability Bazaar team draws on a skilled group of AI expert volunteers from Vision-Aid, and some students and faculty from Harvard University and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
Two five-year agreements with India’s apex eye institute will bring primary eye care, vision rehabilitation services and a new CVI center, serving a population size of over half a million residents in Delhi NCR, place AI-powered smart vision glasses in the hands of those who need them most, and establish the Vision-Aid Sarla Dayal CVI Resource Center for children with cerebral visual impairment.
LEXINGTON, MA – Vision-Aid, a non-profit organization serving the visually impaired, has announced notable additions to its leadership team for 2026-27.
This year’s 100% volunteer Vision-Aid Leadership team includes its Board of Directors (BOD), Board of Advisors (BOA), and Council of Ambassadors (COA). The combined team brings together an eminently qualified and diverse range of members drawn from a wide variety of fields including Ophthalmology, Optometry, Occupational Therapy, Finance, Technology, Health, Management, Academia, the Arts, and Law. Notably, women continue to make up a majority of the leadership team.
A graduation event was held on June 21st, to recognize and celebrate the success of our inaugural Agentic AI course. We were happy to see our 10 visually impaired graduates present their innovative, real-world projects – and the sophistication and depth surprised most of us. In just 4 months, it was evident the students had acquired deep skills to develop very complex apps – and that too using screen readers.
June 2026 marks the completion of one year since we began Project CHASHMA in Sundargarh district of Odisha with our partners the L.V.Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). We wanted to take a moment, not to send out a press release, but just to share with you where this past year has taken us.
Enabling, Educating and Empowering the Visually Impaired - An short film on Vision-Aid
Vision-Aid recognized as Best Non Profit Organization of the Year
Vision-Aid Newsletter
Vision-Aid At A Glance!
Vision-Aid Course Catalog
Vision-Aid Model
Voices from Vision-Aid USA
Vision-Aid Co-Founder gets "Woman of the Year" award
Dear Friend, New England’s best summer show is just one month away now! Are you ready? This year’s show, “Brothers in Arms: The Lions of Sivaganga” – a Broadway style musical – is on Sunday July 26th from 4 pm, in Collins Theater in Andover, MA. New England’s best dance talent is hard at work to forge an unforgettable show for you!