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Bridges Resource Library

AIRA

About Aira

What is Aira?

Aira is a service where you can call an agent in real time to assist you with tasks in which visual information might be helpful. Agents have undergone rigorous training and have been through various clearances and background checks so that you can feel confident that your information and privacy will be protected throughout all Aira calls.

How do I use Aira?

Using the camera on your phone, the agent can provide you with information about your environment or answer visual questions for you at your request.

How can Aira help me in school or on the job?

Aira has a number of great uses, including but certainly not limited to:

  • Being a reader for menus, books, important documents, and written signs in your surroundings
  • Providing assistance with navigating or getting information from inaccessible websites (we recommend downloading Team Viewer to your computer for this purpose)
  • Assistance with taking photos, formatting documents, and so much more!

Can I trust Aria?

Aira provides its agents with rigorous training and conducts various clearances and background checks . Therefore, users can feel confident that their information and privacy will be protected throughout all Aira calls.

Getting Started with Aira

First, you will need to download the free Aira Explorer app in the Apple App Store or the free AiraExplorer app in the Google Play Store. You just need your name, an email address, and a password to register with Aira.

You’ll also need either a mobile phone number or an email to set up a free account. If you need help, call 1-800-835-1934 or go to AIRA’s website (https://aira.io/guests) to get a link to download the app. Using this method, you will open a Guest account (they are free).

Paying for Aira

Aira is a great service, but it is also a private business. As a private business, Aira must, at minimum, cover its costs, including labor, support staff, technology, and marketing.

Prior to 2023, Aira’s pricing model had not changed for five years. This was great for all involved, but it does tend to make the current price and service changes more intense for users.

Aira offers paid plans for subscribers, and it still offers free services to people who have never subscribed. In this post, we will refer to individuals with paid plans as “subscribers” and to individuals without paid plans as “non-subscribers.”

Free minutes

As of September 4, 2023, Aria offered the following services at no cost:

  • Aira Access
    • Offers some level of free Aira service to both subscribers and non-subscribers
      • A list of Aira Access partners as of September 2023 set forth below at: “Aira Access Partners, According to the Aira Access Partners web page”
      • Example: Up to 30 minutes at Starbucks (in store, on the app, or online)
        • Includes certain other retails, software companies, airlines, banks, colleges, and more.
        • Notable Aira Access partners in the Maryland region include Wegman’s grocery store, Target, Starbucks, TD Bank, Bank of America, and the National Federation of the Blind as well as the Smithsonian (including online), the American Foundation for the Blind, the American Council of the Blind in Washington, D.C. Additionally, there are multiple museums, including quite a few in Washington, DC, that offer free Aira Access during your visits there.
      • Sometimes offered as a “pop-up” location for a special event
    • Find more on the Aira app
      • First, must download and install the Aira app (it’s free)
      • On the “Home” page, select “Apply a free Access offer”
      • Choose from the listed categories (currently “Promotions, Products, and Locations”)
  • Task-specific free AIRA minutes
    • Job Seeker: up to 30 minutes every 24 hours for job-seeking tasks
    • Aira demo: teaching a friend to use Aira; up to 10 minutes at a time
  • Free minutes for anything
    • Non-subscribers: One call of up to five (5) minutes every 48 hours (two days)
    • Subscribers: One call of up to five (5) minutes every 12 hours
  • Getting Started with Aira
    • One-time, up to sixty minutes within a seven-day period

Paid plans

NEW features

  • Sharing Minutes: Yes. Under this new pricing model, subscribers may now share minutes with others. Sharing is not required, but it is available on all but the lowest plan.
  • Rollover Minutes: No. Aira no longer offers rollover minutes. Any minutes that are left unused at the end of a month go away forever.

Pricing Plans

  • Aira’s new pricing plan has many components. There are three plan types (Silver, Gold, and Platinum), and there are three levels (1, 2, and 3) for each plan type.
  • As one moves up (Silver 1 to Silver 2 AND Silver 3 to Gold 1), the number of minutes provided and the prices for each plan increase.
  • Plan types offer different levels of sharing minutes:
    • Silver 1: Sharing not permitted
    • Silver 2 and 3: Up to two (2) total members may share a plan
    • Gold (all 3 levels): Up to three (3) total members may share a plan
    • Platinum (all 3 levels): Up to five (5) total members may share a plan
  • Price range:
    • Silver, Level 1: 15 minutes for $65
    • Platinum, Level 3: 800 minutes for $2,900
  • Purchased minutes
    • These are available for purchase anytime you find that you need additional minutes.
    • Like all Aira minutes, these may not be rolled over for use in future months.
    • Prices:
      • 25 minutes are $100.00
      • 50 minutes are $190.00
      • 100 minutes are $365.00  

Find more details on the Aira’s 2023 Plans and Prices website.

Aira Offset/Affordable Personal Plan

Aira now offers an “Affordable Personal Plan,” also called the “Aira Offset.”

  • This plan provides individuals a discount from the price plan rate. The discount is 60% off of the retail price for each plan.
  • This is only available to individuals; schools, agencies, and employers are not eligible for this discount.
  • From Aira: “Our goal is to reduce the cost of our service for individual people, not enterprises. We are not asking for any proof nor do we require any documentation. Aira will grant the offset based on your request alone. Simply by contacting Customer Care and answering several questions, you will be eligible.”
  • This discount only applies to monthly plans; the additional purchased minutes are not discounted.
  • Discounted price range for individuals:
    • Silver, Level 1: 15 minutes for $26
    • Platinum, Level 3: 800 minutes for $1,160

Find more details on the Aira’s 2023 Plans and Prices for Individuals web page.

Aira Access Partners, According to the Aira Access Partners web page

Consumer Products Goods

Procter & Gamble (an employment partner)

Dining

McDonald’s (an employment partner)

Starbucks

Education

Adelphi University, New York

Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind

Ball State University, Indiana

California Department of Education

California State University Long Beach

College of Lake County, Illinois

Columbia University, New York

Deakin University, Victoria, Australia

Duke University, North Carolina

George Mason University, Virginia

Georgia Institute of Technology

Indiana University

Johnson County Community College, Kansas

Los Rios Community College District, California

Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana

Middle Tennessee State University

Northern Arizona University

Ohlone College, California

Palomar College

Perkins School for the Blind, Massachusetts

Princeton University, New Jersey

Rutgers University

Southern University Law Center

Suffolk University

Temple University

Texas A&M University

Texas Tech University

The Ohio State University

University of Alaska

University of California, Irvine

University of California, San Diego

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Massachusetts, Boston

University of Pennsylvania

University of Phoenix

University of St. Thomas, Minnesota

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Vista Higher Learning, Inc.

Wichita State University

Entertainment

Dickie’s Arena, Fort Worth, Texas

Miami Beach Convention Center

NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas

Toledo Zoo

Financial Services

Bank of America

Booz Allen Hamilton

Brookline Bank

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

TD Bank

Government

Arkansas Division of Services for the Blind

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

City of Lynn Haven, FL.

City of Minneapolis

Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons

New Hampshire Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Rhode Island Department of Human Services

Sedgwick County, Wichita, KS

State of Connecticut

Texas Workforce Commission

U.S. Access Board

West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services

Hospitality

Visit Mesa, Mesa, Arizona

Museums

Grand Rapids Public Museum

Irish Architecture Foundation

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Museum of Science Boston

Natural History Museum of Utah

Nova Scotia Museum

Oakland Museum of California

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

Palo Alto Art Museum

Space Center, Houston, Texas

The Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio

The Smithsonian

Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Not for Profit

Accessible Media Inc.

Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind

American Council of the Blind

American Foundation for the Blind

American Printing House for the Blind

Beacon Lighthouse, Inc.

Beyond Vision

Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.

Envision

Massachusetts Association for the Blind

Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired

National Disability Rights Network

National Federation of the Blind

National Industries for the Blind

New York Association on Independent Living

New York Institute for Special Education

Thomas Pocklington Trust

Vision Forward Association

Retail

Gucci

Meijer

Target

Wegmans

Technology

Amazon (an employment partner)

Charter Communications

Comcast

Expedia

Google (an employment partner)

Intuit

Microsoft (an employment partner)

Salesforce (an employment partner)

Vispero

Transportation

Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF)

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Ohio

City of El Paso, Texas

Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina

Columbus Regional Airport Authority, Ohio

Dallas Love Field, Texas

Edmonton Regional Airports Authority, Canada

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida

General Mitchell International, Wisconsin

Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport, Wisconsin

Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Canada

Houston Airport System, Texas

Houston Metro, Texas

Indianapolis International Airport, Indiana

JFK International Air Terminal LLC, New York

Logan International Airport, Massachusetts

Los Angeles International Airport, California

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, New Hampshire

McCarran International Airport, Nevada

Memphis International Airport, Tennessee

Metro Transit, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Milwaukee County Transit System

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, Minnesota

Niagara Falls International Airport

Omaha Airport Authority, Nebraska

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona

Port Authority of NY & NJ (JFK, LGA, EWR)

Portland International Airport (PDX)

Rochester International Airport

Sacramento International Airport, California

Salt Lake City Department of Airports, Utah

San Antonio International Airport, Inc., Texas

San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, California

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington

Sonoma County Airport, California

Southwest Florida International Airport

Spokane International Airport, Washington

St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Missouri

St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Florida

Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, New York

Toronto International Airport

Tulsa Transit, Oklahoma

Vancouver International Airport, Canada

Wichita Airport, Kansas

Winnipeg Airports Authority, Canada

Contact the Bridges Helpdesk for More Information

This unique project is being coordinated through The IMAGE Center of Maryland, a center for independent living in Towson, and it is funded by a grant from the Maryland Department of Education Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services.

Updated as of September 4, 2023.

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