About Us

Sao Mai Center for the Blind (SMCB) was established in 2001 and registered as a non-profit organization based in Vietnam.

Our Mission

We work to empower visually impaired people for their full and equal participation in society by promoting the research, development, and application of assistive technology in education, employment, and daily living activities.

We provide assistive products, accessible materials, training in soft and technology skills, as well as career guidance, vocational training, and job placement services.

Some of Our Notable Achievements

• Supported the establishment of 26 computer labs at local organizations for the blind in 23 provinces/cities throughout the country.
• Trained more than 600 resource assistive technology technicians/trainers and over 5,500 visually impaired people.
• The Center has worked and networked not only with in-country partner organizations but also with organizations from other regions. Some recent regional activities include:
  • The Center provided advanced technology training for nine trainers from the Southeast Asia region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
  • Trained twelve computer trainers for Myanmar.
  • Developed the first usable Myanmar text-to-speech for the Burmese language for Android and Windows platforms.
• Most of our products, such as Sao Mai VNVoice Vietnamese speech engine, standalone talking softwares, technology books, and training curriculum, have been the primary tools and resources for blind individuals and organizations in Vietnam.
• Our online accessible book library offers around 10,000 titles, mainly in the field of education.
• Through the TNF-ICEVI Higher Education Support and the TNF-MNF employment empowerment projects: we have contributed to improving access to higher education by addressing challenges such as university accessibility, awareness and attitudes of teachers and sighted students, availability of accessible materials and learning aids, as well as providing scholarships, soft skills training, career guidance, employer networking, and job placement.
• From 2014 to 2024, we have successfully connected and placed 261 visually impaired individuals in employment across various fields.
• Our newly-developed softwares, including SM Readmate, Sao Mai Braille, SM-BungSang, and SM Music Reader, are not only widely used in Vietnam but also have a large number of users around the world.

We invite you to watch our 14-minute video produced to celebrate the 15th anniversary to learn more about our work from the year 2001-2016.

In 2021, SMCB was recognized by the Zero Project award for outstanding achievements in the development of assistive technology. Watch the short interview video by Zero Project with SMCB!

If the videos above don't work, please search and watch directly on our Youtube's channel at: @SMCenter