Bringing the World Together – Our Story

We’re on a mission to connect communities and make the world more accessible and welcoming for people with blindness or vision loss.

No two people see the world in quite the same way, and for us, that’s a good thing! Our founders, Darwin and Armand, each experienced vision loss. This fueled their passion for providing better information about the world, non-visually. For people with blindness, getting information—like directions, instructions, or product descriptions—often means relying on people with better eyesight. Our patented, first-of-its-kind smart assistant gives better information faster for people who are blind or have low vision. We released WayAround^® for home and office in 2018 but haven’t stopped there.

Meet the WayAround Visionaries

Darwin Belt

Co-Founder & Manager

Darwin Belt is the co-founder and manager of WayAround. Darwin created WayAround after retiring from a thirty-year career as an architect and software developer.

Working with top national homebuilders, Darwin built an award-winning company specializing in Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, which creates interactive representations of every aspect of a building.

In 2007, that company was purchased by a Fortune 200 company, ITW. Through WayAround, Darwin now uses his expertise to change how people with blindness or low vision get information about objects in the world around them.

A passionate devotee of innovation, Darwin has pursued leading medical advancements to correct some of his own vision-related and other complications of Type 1 diabetes. Darwin first lost his vision at age thirty and successfully underwent a vitrectomy to restore his sight. Since then, he has been diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, significant peripheral vision loss, and nyctalopia (night blindness). He received a kidney transplant from his brother, Craig, in the mid-1980s, and in 2007, he received a pancreas transplant, curing his diabetes of forty years.

Using his personal experiences in business and with his family, Darwin gives back to his community through financial contributions and volunteerism. He is actively involved in his local church and works with Family Grace Group, a non-profit organization that supports people and families with mental health and mood challenges. Darwin and his wife, Kathy, live in Plano, Texas, and enjoy spending time with their four children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren.

Armand Fisher

Co-Founder

As a co-founder of WayAround, Armand provides direction and strategic advice for product development, user experience, and accessibility standards. Over the course of his three-decade career as an architect, Armand worked in firms and was self-employed, focusing on governmental contracts.

In 2005, Armand developed idiopathic ischemic optic neuritis and lost his vision over only a few weeks. Learning to adapt to the new challenges evoked feelings from fear to frustration as Armand became more comfortable using a cane.

Armand created WayAround because of his personal experience with vision loss and a passion for creating more efficient and accessible spaces. Armand and his wife, Diana, live in Euless, Texas, where they spend lots of quality time with their three children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Jessica Hipp

Chief Executive Officer

Jessica Hipp, CEO of WayAround, leads the company’s strategic growth in innovative assistive technology. With a passion for improving lives, she builds connections between WayAround and individuals experiencing vision loss, as well as their supporting organizations.

Drawing on fifteen years of marketing and public relations experience, Jessica brings expertise from non-profit, public, and corporate sectors, including several Fortune 500 companies. Her background spans both in-house and agency roles, with a focus on technology and education.

Jessica’s early recognition of WayAround’s potential drives her commitment to the company’s mission. She resides in southern New Hampshire with her husband, two children, and their German Shepherd.

Succeeding Together

WayAround was started with a can-do practicality and a lofty purpose: to provide limitless opportunities for people with vision loss.

Building Bridges

We are on a mission to create a more inclusive world for people with blindness and vision loss. If people with blindness are seen within their communities, people with good eyesight are more likely to understand and create inclusivity.

Our Bridges:

WayAround is expanding language options because we believe people who don’t speak English should still feel part of their communities.
Creating WayAround options for businesses and public spaces to reach a wider audience, including neurodivergent individuals and those with reading challenges.

An illustrated group of people standing and sitting around a table discuss ideas.

An illustration of three people - one woman in a red shirt, a man in a grey shirt, and a man in a blue shirt -- gather round a desk to collaborate on work.

Employment

At every level of business—from communications to customer service, accounting to assembly—WayAround is committed to employing people with vision loss.

70% of working-age adults who are blind currently remain unemployed. We seek out employees and contractors who are blind or vision impaired, and we partner with organizations that employ those with low vision.