About us
Built from lived experience, curiosity, and a belief in what comes next.
AI for the Blind Corp grew from one blind man's technology journey, a small online conversation, and a belief that emerging tools should expand independence instead of creating new barriers.
Daniel Shawn Keen — Founder
Daniel Shawn Keen, known simply as Shawn, is the founder of AI for the Blind Corp.
Shawn was born in 1974 with glaucoma. Growing up, he had limited vision and could still see some color, shapes, and small details. He continued to have some usable vision through childhood and his teenage years, but at 18, he lost the remaining vision he had.
After high school, Shawn moved to Austin to begin his adult life. Over the next 30 years, he built a career around assistive technology, vocational rehabilitation, technology training, and helping blind people find practical ways to use technology in everyday life.
Then, in January 2022, Shawn had a stroke affecting the frontal cortex of his brain. What happened next changed his life. Shawn often says the stroke was one of the best things that ever happened to him. It forced him to slow down, rethink his life, and look at the world—and himself—in a different way. He calls it his second chance.
Shawn decided to do something with that second chance and dove headfirst into learning about artificial intelligence. At first, AI was simply something new to explore. But he quickly discovered that it could be much more than that. AI helped him work through some of the challenges he experienced after his stroke and taught him new ways to communicate, think through problems, and interact with technology.
One of his biggest discoveries was prompting—learning how to tell AI what you need and how to communicate with it effectively.
Shawn has always been an ambitious guy who has a hard time sitting still. His ideas often start with the same five words:
“Hey, I got this idea…”
One of those ideas became the AI for the Blind Club, a Facebook community created to help blind people learn about artificial intelligence from a blind person's perspective. What began as a small conversation grew into a worldwide community of more than 16,000 blind people across more than 100 countries.
The idea was simple: show blind people that AI isn't just something to watch from the sidelines. It's something they can learn, use, experiment with, and help shape.
That community eventually grew into AI for the Blind Corp, a Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Today, AI for the Blind provides practical technology education, hands-on training, accessibility support, equipment-program assistance, and community resources for blind and deafblind people.
We also work with a dedicated group of contract trainers who provide hands-on support through programs including iCanConnect Texas and the Texas STAP program.
Where we serve
Our trainers and programs currently serve five major areas of Texas, while our online community reaches far beyond the state.
Austin
Houston
El Paso
Amarillo
Mindy Keen — Co-Founder
Mindy Keen is the co-founder of AI for the Blind, as well as Shawn's wife, business partner, and biggest supporter. She brings her own distinct perspective, dynamic energy, and genuine love for adventure into everything she does.
Mindy firmly believes that life is meant to be lived to the absolute fullest. Through her personal brand, Life With Mindy, she shares her everyday experiences, creative cooking and baking, accessibility finds, wellness routines, and life as a blind woman. Her philosophy is simple: life is vibrant, rich, and beautiful even when you can't visually see it.
When she isn't creating content or collaborating on new projects, Mindy loves spending quality time with her son, trying new recipes in the kitchen, traveling, and jumping into new experiences. Together with Shawn, she's helping show that love, partnership, creativity, and curiosity can create beautiful adventures.
To stay connected with Mindy and see what she's up to next, visit LifeWithMindy.com.
Why AI?
Shawn believes we're standing at the beginning of a major change in the way people interact with technology. For blind people, that change could be especially significant.
Artificial intelligence can describe information, answer questions, help with writing, research ideas, explain complicated subjects, assist with technology, help create content, and open doors to things that once required specialized software or sighted assistance.
But Shawn doesn't believe blind people should simply wait to see what happens. He believes we have an opportunity to help shape what comes next.
AI will change the way we live. The question is what we choose to do with it.
At AI for the Blind, we're here to explore that question together.
Our values
Accessibility first
Accessibility is part of the design, not a patch added at the end.
Practical usefulness
We focus on real tasks, real devices, and real barriers people are trying to overcome.
Human dignity
People are more than an application, diagnosis, or device category.
Community knowledge
Blind and disabled users bring expertise that belongs in product and program decisions.
Honest experimentation
AI can be powerful and wrong. We teach both the opportunity and the need to verify.
Service
The point of technology is not technology. It is connection, independence, creativity, and participation.
More than technology
AI for the Blind isn't really about technology.
Technology is the tool. People are the reason.
We want blind and deafblind people to have opportunities to learn, experiment, create, connect, and participate in a world that is changing rapidly.
We believe accessibility should be part of the conversation from the beginning—not something added after the fact. We believe blind people should have a voice in the technology being built for the future. We believe practical training matters. We believe community matters.
And we believe that sometimes the best way to discover what is possible is simply to give something new a try.
“Hey, I got this idea…”
Because you never know what might happen after someone says it.
“You don't have to see the whole path to take the next step.”
Come explore what's possible with us.
Whether you're blind, deafblind, a family member, technology professional, trainer, organization, developer, or simply curious about what AI could mean for accessibility, there's a place for you here.
The future is being built right now. Let's make sure blind people are part of building it.