Eye-Able® – Digital Accessibility for Everyone
An Internet Without Barriers
Eye-Able® is a German technology company based in Margetshöchheim near Würzburg. It was founded in 2020 by Chris Schmidt, Tobias Greiner, Oliver Greiner, and Eric Braun. The company’s idea originated from a personal experience: co-founder Oliver Greiner witnessed how his friend Lennart—who has only about ten percent vision due to a genetic condition—was forced to abandon his studies because many digital platforms were not accessible to him. This experience became the driving force behind a clear vision: a digital world open to everyone.
Mission and Vision
The guiding principle of Eye-Able® is “An Internet for everyone.” The company strives to make digital information, websites, and applications accessible regardless of physical, visual, cognitive, or linguistic limitations. Accessibility is viewed not merely as a legal obligation but as a form of social responsibility and an opportunity to make digital participation a natural part of society.
Technological Solutions
Eye-Able® develops software solutions and services that enable organizations, businesses, and public institutions to make their digital offerings accessible.
Its range of services includes:
- Analysis and Auditing: Automated and manual accessibility checks based on international standards (e.g., WCAG, BITV, EAA) assess how inclusive a website or digital application truly is.
- User Adaptation Tools: The Eye-Able® Assist feature allows visitors to customize digital content — by adjusting font size, contrast, color settings, or by enabling text-to-speech and simplified language modes. More than 25 accessibility options are available.
- Training and Consultation: Eye-Able® provides workshops and expert guidance that help teams create and maintain accessible digital content over time.
- Documentation and Monitoring: The system automatically generates accessibility statements, compliance reports, and continuous monitoring to ensure lasting accessibility.
- AI-Driven Accessibility: Artificial intelligence supports features such as text simplification (“Plain Language AI”) and automated translation to make digital communication easier to understand and multilingual.
Social and Legal Relevance
Digital accessibility is both a moral and a legal imperative. With the implementation of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG), many organizations are now required to provide barrier-free digital access. Eye-Able® helps them meet these legal standards efficiently — while also improving usability and user experience for all.
Distinctive Features
Eye-Able® emphasizes privacy and data protection: all solutions are developed and hosted within Europe. The system integrates seamlessly into existing websites, content management systems, and mobile applications. Its unique combination of technological innovation and social purpose distinguishes Eye-Able® from other providers in the field.
Growth and Impact
Since its founding, Eye-Able® has grown rapidly, collaborating with public institutions, educational organizations, and businesses across various sectors. A funding round of approximately 20 million euros in 2024 highlights investor confidence in its mission and potential. Eye-Able® aims to become a European leader in digital accessibility and to help set future standards in the field.
A Contribution to a Digital Society
Eye-Able® represents a new generation of technology companies that combine innovation with social responsibility. Through its work, the company helps ensure that digital participation depends not on individual ability, but on inclusive design and equitable access.
In short:
Eye-Able® makes digital accessibility visible, understandable, and achievable — shaping a future in which the digital world truly belongs to everyone.
Further information available at https://eye-able.com.
Digital barriers exclude millions of people
Accessibility enables participation for all!
Who is affected?
27% of people in the EU over the age of 16 live with some form of disability. That is approximately 101 million people - one in four. This includes people with visual, hearing, mobility, cognitive, or mental impairments.
Source: Council of the EU / Eurostat, 2023-based on self-reported activity limitations
What does digital accessibility mean?
Digital accessibility means that everyone can use websites, apps, and digital devices, regardless of their abilities. Since June 2025, the European Accessibility Act has stipulated that digital services must be accessible to all.
What is digital exclusion?
In an EU-wide analysis, only 6% of websites met all accessibility criteria.
Common barriers: images without alt text, poor contrast, no keyboard control. Even small changes help. Digital participation is possible-for everyone.
- Common obstacles: images without alt text, poor contrast, no keyboard control.
- Even small changes can help. Digital participation is achievable – for everyone.
Source: TechZine.eu, 2024-WCAG analysis of 260,000 European WebSiTAS
In this exhibition, you will experience what digital barriers mean - and how we can break them down. Test assistive technologies, experience limitations, and discover solutions.
Illustration: Digital accessibility is not an extra. It is democracy in action.
More than 2.2 billion people worldwide live with visual impairment or blindness.
That is almost one in four people.
Source: WHO, World Report on Vision, 2019
This is the internet for many people
- Night blindness (Hemeralopia) – see illustration 1
- Blue-yellow weakness (Tritanopia) – see illustration 2
- Short-sightedness (Myopia) – see illustration 3
- Cataract – see illustration 4
- Macular degeneration – see illustration 5
- Red weakness (Protanomaly) / Greenweakness (Deuteranomaly) – see illustration 6
Visual impairments can affect anyone, regardless of age. Some people have blurred vision, others can only see a small section of their field of vision. Others can barely recognize colors or contrasts – and some cannot see anything at all. Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness worldwide.
Source: Global estimates of the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment due to cataracts (2000-2020)
Approximately 9% of men and 0.8% of women cannot distinguish certain colors properly.
See Illustration 7.
Source: Worldwide prevalence of red-green color blindness (meta- analysis, 2012)
Experience how versatile barriers can be and where they lurk in the digital space with our interactive memory game.
From the readability and comprehensibility of content to website navigation, there are numerous aspects that can exclude people.
Find the matching memory card and discover what steps are necessary on the
path to digital accessibility.
Illustration: Memory "Barrier - Solution"
According to current estimates, 4% to 5% of people worldwide live with some form of color vision deficiency, colloquially known as color blindness. That's over 300 million people worldwide. Certain digital content is not recognizable to people with this color vision deficiency.
People with color blindness have difficulty when a color conveys important information. The reason: they often cannot clearly distinguish colors because they look almost the same to them, such as in traffic lights.
Illustration: simulation of color blindness. Original (left), red-green color blindness (right)
Even fonts that are too small or poor contrast can prevent people from perceiving or understanding digital content.
Accessible design ensures that everyone has access-regardless of vision, age, or technical understanding.
Tips and tricks for good design
- Contrasts: Pay attention to strong light-dark contrasts - text must be clearly legible.
- Font: Use easily legible, sans serif fonts and sufficiently large font sizes.
- Interactive elements: Avoid pop-ups and complicated menus.
Illustration: Example for bad and good design.
Alt texts are invisible descriptions for images. They are not visible on the website.
Alt texts are invisible descriptions for images. They are not visible on the website. They are there so that screen readers (programs that read aloud for blind or visually impaired people) know what can be seen in an image. The screenreader reads the alt text aloud and thus explains the image.
Illustration 1: Digital images with alt text
Good alt texts are simple, clear, and say exactly what is important.
But how exactly do you write good alt texts?
- Clearly describe what can be seen in the picture.
- Keep the text short (1-2 sentences).
- Do not use opinions or feelings ("nice," "sad").
Task: Write an alt text
Write a suitable alt text (1-2 sentences) for one of the three images.
Tip: Only describe what is important - keep it short, clear, and unbiased.
Illustration 2: Images for trying to write an alt text