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Kes: And hey, a squared-off lube bottle that won't roll if you drop it: see how accessibility benefits everybody? Also, the Alt Text as Poetry workshop is *awesome*! I recommend this to everyone.
From Pharrell’s Inclusive Skincare Line To A Lube With Braille Writing, Consumer Brands Are Finally Starting To Think About Blind And Visually Impaired Customers
by Bérénice Magistretti
Oct 13, 2022,06:54am EDT
Full article at
https://www.forbes.com/sites/berenicemagistretti/2022/10/13/from-pharrells-inclusive-skincare-line-to-a-lube-with-braille-writing-consumer-brands-are-finally-starting-to-think-about-blind-and-visually-impaired-customers/?sh=2917ba575e41
Today, consumer health giant Haleon announced a partnership with Microsoft to make its health products more accessible to the blind and visually impaired (the companies shared both a written and audio press release). Microsoft’s
Seeing AI app
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/seeing-ai
now allows users to scan the barcode of Haleon products to get information about ingredients and usage instructions delivered via an audio feature. The free app works on over 1,500 Haleon products across the UK and US, including Sensodyne, Centrum, Panadol and Advil.
....A company that has been instrumental in helping the visually impaired with things like reading product labels is
Be My Eyes.
https://www.bemyeyes.com/
The app connects blind and partially sighted people with volunteers via a live video feature to assist users with daily tasks, such as checking expiry dates, distinguishing colours and reading instructions. There are currently more than 6 million volunteers on the app across 150 countries. In 2019, the company partnered with Clearblue to help visually impaired women regain control over their reproductive health. Users can now access the Clearblue Careline through Be My Eyes and receive their pregnancy or fertility test results right away from a Clearblue Advisor.
While helping the blind and visually impaired with shopping and manual work is vital, there are instances when disabled individuals would rather not seek another pair of eyes – in the bedroom, for example.
An up-and-coming sexual wellness brand that baked inclusivity into its DNA from the start is Roam. The London-based startup makes all-natural products that include condoms and lubricants for both the front and the back. In addition to being sexually inclusive, the brand also made sure that it’s accessible to the disabled community.
“We hear a lot about tokenistic inclusivity,” said Roam co-founder and chief creative officer Alex Griffiths. “It felt disingenuous to say that we want to provide a choice to customers and make them feel visible while ignoring people who are often forgotten.”
The founders thought long and hard about disability inclusivity when creating their products, adding braille writing on the sides and designing square-edged lubes to prevent the bottles from rolling if dropped.
....Artists Shannon Finnegan and Bojana Coklyat (who has low vision) are striving to make alt text more creative and playful through their project
Alt Text as Poetry.
https://alt-text-as-poetry.net/
On the website, they state:
“Alt text is an essential part of web accessibility. It is often disregarded or understood through the lens of compliance, as an unwelcome burden to be met with minimum effort. How can we instead approach alt text thoughtfully and creatively?”
The artists encourage people to think about words and language in an experimental spirit when writing alt text or image descriptions, drawing inspiration from the world of poetry. And that’s really the key when trying to make accessibility edgier: from a lube with braille writing to a poetry-inspired alt text, we all need to think about accessibility creatively in order to normalize it and make it a part of our everyday lives.
From Pharrell’s Inclusive Skincare Line To A Lube With Braille Writing, Consumer Brands Are Finally Starting To Think About Blind And Visually Impaired Customers
by Bérénice Magistretti
Oct 13, 2022,06:54am EDT
Full article at
https://www.forbes.com/sites/berenicemagistretti/2022/10/13/from-pharrells-inclusive-skincare-line-to-a-lube-with-braille-writing-consumer-brands-are-finally-starting-to-think-about-blind-and-visually-impaired-customers/?sh=2917ba575e41
Today, consumer health giant Haleon announced a partnership with Microsoft to make its health products more accessible to the blind and visually impaired (the companies shared both a written and audio press release). Microsoft’s
Seeing AI app
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/seeing-ai
now allows users to scan the barcode of Haleon products to get information about ingredients and usage instructions delivered via an audio feature. The free app works on over 1,500 Haleon products across the UK and US, including Sensodyne, Centrum, Panadol and Advil.
....A company that has been instrumental in helping the visually impaired with things like reading product labels is
Be My Eyes.
https://www.bemyeyes.com/
The app connects blind and partially sighted people with volunteers via a live video feature to assist users with daily tasks, such as checking expiry dates, distinguishing colours and reading instructions. There are currently more than 6 million volunteers on the app across 150 countries. In 2019, the company partnered with Clearblue to help visually impaired women regain control over their reproductive health. Users can now access the Clearblue Careline through Be My Eyes and receive their pregnancy or fertility test results right away from a Clearblue Advisor.
While helping the blind and visually impaired with shopping and manual work is vital, there are instances when disabled individuals would rather not seek another pair of eyes – in the bedroom, for example.
An up-and-coming sexual wellness brand that baked inclusivity into its DNA from the start is Roam. The London-based startup makes all-natural products that include condoms and lubricants for both the front and the back. In addition to being sexually inclusive, the brand also made sure that it’s accessible to the disabled community.
“We hear a lot about tokenistic inclusivity,” said Roam co-founder and chief creative officer Alex Griffiths. “It felt disingenuous to say that we want to provide a choice to customers and make them feel visible while ignoring people who are often forgotten.”
The founders thought long and hard about disability inclusivity when creating their products, adding braille writing on the sides and designing square-edged lubes to prevent the bottles from rolling if dropped.
....Artists Shannon Finnegan and Bojana Coklyat (who has low vision) are striving to make alt text more creative and playful through their project
Alt Text as Poetry.
https://alt-text-as-poetry.net/
On the website, they state:
“Alt text is an essential part of web accessibility. It is often disregarded or understood through the lens of compliance, as an unwelcome burden to be met with minimum effort. How can we instead approach alt text thoughtfully and creatively?”
The artists encourage people to think about words and language in an experimental spirit when writing alt text or image descriptions, drawing inspiration from the world of poetry. And that’s really the key when trying to make accessibility edgier: from a lube with braille writing to a poetry-inspired alt text, we all need to think about accessibility creatively in order to normalize it and make it a part of our everyday lives.
