Will you join us in donating so students become Aira Explorers?

You may have read my blog post about Aira, the visual interpreter service.

Aira is trying some innovative things to ensure that it is available to more people. They’ve set up a foundation, the Do More Foundation, and their first project is to raise funds to give Aira to college students who could use it but might not be able to afford it.

This seems worthy of our support, and Bonnie and I are pleased to do so.

Let me tell you a story that illustrates why I think this initiative is so important. When I started at university in the late 80s, I was just in time to use a talking computer, the original Keynote, in class. The previous generation of students kept telling me how lucky I was, that they had it tougher, and of course that’s true.

Now, I guess, the circle of life and technology means it’s my turn. I would love to have had Aira to help me find a library book when I wanted to, not when a sighted reader was on-hand to help. Getting additional information about material presented at the front of a room, explaining diagrams, navigating to unfamiliar parts of campus, would all have been a snap with Aira. Sure, I got it done, just as the generation before me got it done without a talking computer. But Aira, like innovations before it, improves efficiency, increases the likelihood of success, lessens the stress, and reduces reliance on the timetables and availability of others.

I’ve made a donation, set up a fund raising campaign through Aira’s Do More Foundation, and if you want to help the next generation of leaders and contributors in our community, I’d appreciate it if you’d donate as well. It’s an investment in today’s students having even more opportunities than we did, and that’s a great thing to invest in.

To make a donation, choose this link.

Thanks to Aira’s Do More Foundation for this cool initiative, and to you, in advance, if you feel able to give something.