Be My Eyes

Sky launches free support service for visually impaired customers

‘Be My Eyes’ app launches ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day

To celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Sky Ireland has today announced the launch of a new free support service for visually impaired customers, powered by ‘Be My Eyes’. Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call.

Visually impaired Sky customers will now be able to access customer support via live video calls with Sky’s Accessibility customer support team. Through these live calls, the customer support team can help to set up or resolve any technical issues, experienced by the customer.

Speaking about the new offering from Sky, Declan Meenagh, Advocacy Officer at Fighting Blindness said:

“Fighting Blindness members find Be My Eyes a very useful app and we thank all of the global volunteers for giving their time to such a useful service. Our members have also used the service to get help from other specialised help partners and really report a good experience. Sky has a long history of providing accessibility support and we are looking forward to using this new service and enabling people living with sight loss to enjoy more entertainment.”

Also speaking about the launch of Be My Eyes, David Nason, Sky Ireland’s Accessibility Lead and accessibility advocate, adds:

“Sky is a champion of inclusivity and we always strive to ensure that all of our customers’ needs are met. We’re incredibly proud to be the first telecommunications company in Ireland to integrate the Be My Eyes app into our customer service offering and provide essential assistance to all Sky customers. Be My Eyes means we can now offer specialised assistance and technical support to visually impaired customers when they need it, through live video calls.”

Sky has already taken a number of important steps towards inclusivity, with Sky Glass and Sky Q offering features such as ‘Voice Guidance’ and ‘Voice Control’. These features provide navigational guidance for people with a sight impairment, enabling them to find what they are looking for with helpful audio cues. Other accessibility features available include audio description, high contrast, subtitles and highlighting of shows in the TV Guide which have audio description, subtitles or sign language to make them easier to find. Global Accessibility Awareness Day takes place on May 18^th and focuses on driving awareness for digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people who live with disabilities or impairments.