Benetech

Benetech was founded on the belief that the benefits of technology must reach all of humanity. Our organization’s social enterprise business model aims to create financially sustainable projects that measure success in the number of lives changed for the better. Each of our program areas—Global Literacy, Human Rights, the Environment, and Benetech Labs—offers the greatest social impact on funds invested.

Benetech emerged from its founding work as a leading provider of reading machines for people who are blind. Witnessing the value in offering affordable technologies that transform the lives of individuals with disabilities, founder and CEO Jim Fruchterman was inspired to expand the nonprofit’s work to create software applications for social empowerment. Benetech’s tools have since improved the lives of communities around the world, changing the ways in which people with disabilities access printed information; allowing frontline human rights defenders to safely document abuse; and empowering environmental practitioners to succeed in their efforts to protect species and ecosystems.

Benetech's products and initiatives at a glance:

Global Literacy

• Bookshare: The world’s largest online accessible library of copyrighted content for people with print disabilities. Serving 350,000+ members in over 50 countries with a collection of 330,000+ (and growing) accessible ebooks.
• The DIAGRAM Center: A research and development center working to make it easier, cheaper, and faster to create and use accessible digital images.
• Born Accessible: Working to ensure that “born digital” books and curricula are made accessible to all from the outset, as an integral part of the publishing process.

Human Rights

• Martus: An open source, free, strongly encrypted, and easy-to-use desktop application for secure collection and management of sensitive information.
• Mobile Martus: An Android-based mobile documentation application that brings secure data collection, storage, and backup closer to the field. Integrates with other data privacy and security tools to enhance the anonymity and safety of human rights practitioners and journalists.

Benetech Labs Projects: 

• SocialCoding4Good: Matches skilled technical volunteers with humanitarian, open source projects to better deliver services around the world.
• 3D Printing for Education: Provides access to 3D educational models for all students, including those with visual disabilities.
• secureApp Generator: Enables human rights and civil society organizations to create custom mobile and desktop applications for secure data collection, using strong, open encryption.
• MathML Cloud: Automatically generates mathematical expressions in alternative formats, so that students with disabilities can access them through technology such as synthetic speech and braille.