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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 provide holistic vision enhancement and vision rehabilitation programs for adults and children who are blind or who have low vision. 

 

Vision-Aid innovative programs have won national and international awards and helps to bring independence and dignity to over ten thousand visually impaired each year. Please watch this short video for a quick summary of our work . Come join hands with us – your support at any level can make a difference – whether it is providing an assistive device or helping us start a new center!

What's New

Din Check’s “Naatu Naatu” set to rock New England, for Vision-Aid and Perkins on April 23rd.
New England’s ever-popular Din Check band is joining forces with Vision-Aid on Sunday, April 23rd from 4 to 7 p.m. for a fabulous “fun-raiser” in the historic and beautiful Cary Hall in Lexington Center to celebrate Bollywood music and dance. The event supports the programs of Vision-Aid and Perkins School for the Blind to enable children with visual impairment and multiple disabilities (MDVI) served in programs jointly run by Vision-Aid and Perkins India through the Perkins Project Identification and Intervention (IDI) project.

As we near the end of 2022 and look ahead to 2023, there are many bright spots in the past year, but one of the brightest is 42 of our students who are blind or visually impaired landing their dream job in the Tech sector and other sectors. 42 students of our Digital Accessibility Testing (DAT), Python programming), SQL/Database and Corporate Skills training program landed jobs in top companies like Infosys, Goldman Sachs, Cognizant and many others (see list below), as Accessibility testers, software engineers and a variety of other corporate roles. Congratulations to the students and their trainers for this AMAZING accomplishment!

With the turn of seasons, we also have the turn of the quarterly program cycle at Vision-Aid.  During the past quarter [July – September 2022], Vision-Aid Resource Centers and Programs had the opportunity to serve 4366 visually impaired persons across India via various programs.

Congratulations, Vision-Aid Python Graduates!

Students, visually impaired and brilliant, who successfully graduated from the Python Programming Course share their deep insights and experiences. This is a must see!
 
Lighting up the lamp of hope, in Agra on “White Cane Day”
Belated Dussehra greetings and advance greetings for Diwali – the festival of lights. Amid the festive season, did you know that today, October 15th , is “White Cane Awareness Day”, to increase awareness of the use of white canes by the visually impaired to navigate safely. In our Vision-Aid Agra center, this day was celebrated with the distribution of “Smart Canes” to the visually impaired.
Shubham Deshmukh is a stellar example of Vision-Aid’s uniquely talented alumni.
Cordial and articulate, with a zest for adventure, Shubham is an Arts major turned tech buff who has thrived on the skill-broadening exposure brought to him by Vision-Aid’s Digital Accessibility Testing and Training Program. Presently employed at HCL as a Digital Accessibility Tester, Shubham fondly reminisces about the series of events that led him to clinch such a covetable position, and how Vision-Aid made a debut at a crucial juncture in his life.
Vision-Aid Announces its New Leadership Team for 2022-23

LEXINGTON, MA–Vision-Aid, a non-profit organization serving the visually impaired, announced several notable additions to its leadership team for 2022-23.

This year’s 100% volunteer leadership team includes its 15-member Board of Directors (BOD), 15-member Board of Advisors (BOA), and 4-member Council of Ambassadors, which provides leadership in the area of community engagement, inclusion and advocacy, with a special focus on youth.

The combined power team includes an eminently qualified and diverse range of members drawn from a wide range of fields including Ophthalmology, Optometry, Occupational Therapy, Finance, Technology, Health, Management, Academia and Law.

Meet the dream team behind “The Jewel of Justice”

Vision-Aid’s annual dance productions have become a New England tradition of their own – a remarkable event that the entire community looks forward to with anticipation. This year’s show comes to audiences in a hybrid mode - allowing viewers to choose watching the show in person at a live screening or virtually from the comfort of their homes on July 31st, 2021 at 4 PM US EST, while still preserving the creative, dazzling flavor which have set these shows apart in a category of their own.

While COVID-19 continues to pose challenges, the innovative team leading this year’s effort is finding creative ways to make the show as memorable and vibrant as ever.

The event also aspires to raise much-needed funds for the visually impaired in India – a community which has been especially hard hit by the fallout from the pandemic, at all levels.

For more details of the show, to buy tickets, or to become a sponsor, please visit www.VisionAid.org/event

AI-powered Smart Vision Glasses for the blind launched in Vision-Aid center at Delhi.
Amid the searing heat wave in Delhi, which has been in the recent news, a cooler piece of news is that Smart Vision Glasses (SVG) 2.0, the new AI-powered device for the visually impaired made its debut this week in Delhi and is causing some waves. Vision-Aid and its partner SHG Technologies launched Smart Vision Gen 2.0 in Delhi at the Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) in Delhi, on May 17th, at an event which was well attended despite the ongoing heat wave.
Smart Vision Gen 2.0 launched!

Smart Vision is a revolutionary, affordable, innovative, made-in-India, AI-powered "Smart Glass", the first of its kind brought to India by Vision-Aid in partnership with SHG Technologies of Bengaluru, in collaboration with Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai and with the financial support of the Palakurthi Foundation of USA.

Short Video Overview of Smart Vision Demo (~30 seconds video):

Smart Vision Testimonials by blind users in pilot (~2.5 minutes)  

Click here to download brochure.

For more information, or to obtain this device, please email: info@visionaid.org 

For Some Touching is believing!
Touching is believing! For children who are visually impaired, and who have never seen a tree or a star or a science diagram, the world of tactile diagrams and tactile STEM books opens up a whole new universe, using the sense of touch. Vision-Aid is proud to partner with Raised Lines Foundation (RLF) a start-up coming out of IIT-Delhi to provide high quality tactile Braille books to children in blind schools across India replacing traditional Braille books which were lacking diagrams. We are grateful to Meetu & Ram Gupta Foundation of Boston, and several other donors for their generous support for this program.
Smart phones – a major enabler for the visually impaired!
Vision-Aid and Trees For Life India are joining hands to provide life-changing Smart-phone technology to visually impaired from under-privileged backgrounds. In 2021 , we started with a pilot which covers ten locations, and the results have been phenomenal. About the program Smart phone companies have poured a lot of money to pack smart technology into today's devices and there are many innovative apps (including AI based apps) which can totally transform the life of a blind or visually impaired user. Our dedicated volunteers and team members in US and India have been hard at work, coordinating the logistics of this multi-location rollout.
Third batch of Digital Accessibility Testing Program students graduate!
In 2020, Vision-Aid launched the “Vissa Sahadeva Rao and Kamala Vissa Vision-Aid Center for Digital Accessibility Testing & Training” thanks to support from the family of the generous benefactors. The center has already trained 3 batches of visually impaired students in advanced DAT skills with a an intensive , rigorous 6-month program from the Dequeue University in the US, which offers the leading global certification program for DAT training. All students have successfully been certified by Dequeue and several have gone on to secure jobs in the industry as well as work in-house in the Vision-Aid DAT incubator.
Vision-Aid and Perkins India teams launch door to door screening in Agra
Vision-Aid is delighted to see the impact of the partnership between Vision-Aid India and Perkins India to identify children with Multiple Disabilities and Vision Impairment (MDVI) in Agra, Uttar Pradesh India. Under project IDI , Identification and Intervention, door-to-door screening of 338 children with disabilities was carried out. This work was overseen by the project team of trained special educators and CBR workers from Khandoli block. Many more villages will be targeted in the coming weeks and months.
A long distance relationship that is thriving!
As we look back at 2021 there are many bright spots to celebrate amid the dark clouds of COVID. One of the brightest spots was - Vision-Aid's Digital Accessibility Testing and Training Center (DATTC). This is one of Vision-Aid's most successful initiatives - Truly a Win-Win-Win-Win for all invovled!

Vision-Aid proudly presents

The Jewel of Justice

The Saga of Kannagi

Sun. July 31, 2022 @ 4 PM EDT

During this season of Giving, we sincerely thank you for your support to Vision-Aid which enables, educates and empowers the visually impaired to live with dignity. Any donations made during the period November 15th to December 31, 2022 will be matched, increasing your impact.

Smart Vision Glasses

Vision-Aid Newsletter

Vision-Aid At A Glance!

Vision-Aid Course Catalog

Short film on Vision-Aid

Perkins India Film"

Vision-Aid Model

Meet the graduates from our Digital Accessibility Testing and Training Program

Meet our Spoken English Program

Vision-Aid Co-Founder gets "Woman of the Year" award