Accessibility Audit & Tactile Concept

ABOUT

A solo research project about encouraging others to think inclusively as they design physical products and packaging.

MY ROLE

• Solo research project. 
• Research, conduct surveys, identify credible sources.
• Create concept.
• Created some, but not all, icons.

PROBLEM

The consumer products industry is lacking accessible options for choosing & purchasing toys, especially in-person choices based on packaging.

Process

This project spanned 3 months.

This was my process for putting together a slide presentation that included a concept.

Late 2021

GOT THE IDEA

January 2022

BEGIN RESEARCH

February 2022

CONCEPT

March 2022

PRESENTATION

CONCLUSION

Presentation Contents

Below is the order of the final presentation deck, but this is not the order in which I created the deck. As with many projects, it didn’t develop in a perfectly logical order.

Diversity statistics & inclusive tips

Areas to consider improving accessibility

Creating a Tactile concept

Accessibility Tips for designing

Inspiration

What started this project?

Blind YouTuber shares his experiences

There is a Korean Youtuber who I’m subscribed to named Hansol, and he creates casual educational videos about doing everyday tasks as a blind person. 

Hansol chooses drinks by touch

In one of his videos, he was showing how he chooses snacks from a convenience store. Among the few cans that do have braille, they only say “beverage” on them. It’s not helpful to say beverage when he can already tell it’s a cold can in a fridge.

What packages are easiest to identify?

He noted in multiple videos that he comes back to a drink with a raised heart on top, and any bottle with a unique silhouette.

Industry Analysis & Anecdotal Evidence

To understand what accessibility options are currently available for packaging, I reviewed more anecdotal evidence, from influencer Molly Burke.

YouTuber Molly Burke being featured on Allure

• She was discussing the use of Accessibility in beauty packaging & products. 

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• She showed how products with unique raised shapes or large raised letters are helpful.

• An example was how Herbal Essences bottles now have raised marks on the back to differentiate the shampoo and conditioner. 
• There were stripes for shampoo and circles for conditioner. 
• Her suggestion was to make them in an easier to find location on the bottle, without needing to use both hands.

Molly’s experiences support the benefit of tactile shapes.

Anecdotal Evidence

I reviewed more of Molly’s recommendations as well as some related studies, and learned that only a small percentage of blind people read braille.

Molly reviewing smaller brand’s accessibility

On some types of paper products, the braille bumps get flattened in shipping.

Skincare brand utilizing raised shapes

She likes this skincare brand that uses a crescent moon for night cream and a wave for day cream.

As of a 2017 census:

Only

7.8%

of the blind read braille

In 1960, it was at 50%, but due to technological advancements, it has reduced, and seeing as that 7.8% is 4 years old, it could be even lower. 

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Hypothesis

I could see a pattern of how companies utilizing simple shapes were more successful in helping consumers identify their products through touch, so I began forming a hypothesis.

Hypothesis

Using cutout marks on packaging to represent play patterns may help consumers choose and purchase toys.

Potential Pain Points

While these shapes are appreciated for the few brands that have tried, I estimate that this could potentially turn into a situation where companies make their own shape libraries, and eventually overwhelm the consumer.

Setting Constraints

I am constraining myself to addressing toy packaging.

Survey

I surveyed 4 employees from toy company “A” to understand if there are any current accessible design methods being utilized in their packaging or ecommerce.

Graphic Designer

Copywriter

Structure Engineer

Marketer

Question I asked:

“Are you aware of any accessible or inclusive processes or designs that we use to make our products easy to choose and purchase, so the consumer can be confident in their selection and make a toy purchase? For example, putting braille on packages to aid visually impaired consumers, or providing alt text for ecomm images.”

Limited Responses:

I reached out to employees from 2 other toy companies as well, and did not receive any other responses.

Survey Responses

The responses revealed that none of the 4 disciplines surveyed were aware of any current methods, but had ideas and questions, showing an interest in pursuing it.

Graphic Designer

“I’m not aware of any current methods. Our diversity team might know.”

Follow up: The “Diversity” team did not respond to my email. Their content seemed geared towards ethnic diversity, not accessibility.

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Copywriter

“If we are providing alt text, it doesn't come from our brand writing team.”

Follow up: I did a quick scan of one of their key items on multiple retailer sites, and I did not find images with alt text, just visible captions. 

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Structure Engineer

“Haven’t seen anything with [intentional] accessibility but our plastic free packaging may be easier to open for them.”

Follow up: Only some items will be plastic free.

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Marketer

“What’s Alt Text?”

Follow up: I took this as an opportunity to educate, and explained what alt text is.

[Alt text is alternative text provided for an image so that someone with a visual impairment can use a screen reader to know what’s in the photo. Alt text is also helpful for search engine optimization because search engines will pick up keywords from that.]

Industry Analysis

Found 3 industry examples with lessons to learn from, from big company flops to small individual creator wins.

Olay’s Lid

Olay released a limited edition prototype cosmetic lid for people with dexterity problems. It was only available for purchase online. 

The feedback they received was to make it easier to access, ahem, more accessible. 

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CVS Spoken Rx

The first in-app prescription reader to be developed by a national retail pharmacy.

This was received well and Molly Burke has recommended it on multiple occasions to her 1.97 million followers.

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Tik-Tok Pill Cap Design

The Tik-Tok community came together to create an easy-use pill cap and dispenser, TremorSafe.

It started with Jimmy Choi sharing his struggles, Brian Alldridge creating a blueprint, and TikTok users jumping in to help bring it full circle. It’s now open source, and ready for distribution. 

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US Consumers

Now with an understanding of where the consumer product industry stands, I researched more about US consumers, identifying an untapped market of 26% of consumers with $21 billion in discretionary spending power.

According to the US Dep of Health & Human Services:

1 in 4

Americans have a disability.

According to AIR American Institutes for Research:

They have

21 Billion

Dollars of discretionary income.

Target Audience

Moving onto visual impairments specifically, I found sources that revealed 28% of our 32.2 million visually impaired Americans have a household income of $75k or more.

According to the World Health Organization:

2.2 Billion

Global Visual Impairments

According to the National Health Interview Survey:

32.2 Mil

Americans have reported vision loss.

According to the National Health Interview Survey:

28%

Household income of $75k or more.

Yearly Spending Survey

US consumers spend $300/yr on toys per child and I wanted to know if that was also accurate among our target audience, so I conducted a Facebook Group survey of 13 people that confirmed it is about the same.

According to Statistica Researcher D. Tighe:

Consumers in the US spent an average of

$300/yr

Per child on toys

According to my (Carly’s) survey:

In the US, both visually impaired and non visually impaired consumers spend about the same amount of money per child every year.

30.8% of VI consumers spent $200 a year per child on toys.

30.8% of VI consumers spent $300 a year per child on toys.

7.7% of VI consumers spent $500 a year or more per child on toys.

Only 15.4% of VI consumers spent $100 a year or less per child on toys.

Survey on Shopping Preferences

In the same survey, they shared a preference for shopping BOTH in person and online at common retailers, hinting that usual advertisements at common retailers could possibly suffice to get their attention.

Preference for shopping online or in person:

Preferred Retailers:

All 3 were liked equally

• Amazon
• Walmart
• Target

Loss of Revenue

During my research, I came across an interesting phrase called “The Purple Pound”, which referred to the UK’s awareness of the £24/$34 billion that businesses lose out on every year due to a lack of accessibility.

According to gov.uk:

In the UK, Disabled households have

£274

$383

Billion in spending power per year.

According to gov.uk:

Businesses lose out on

£24

$34

Billion per year.

Laws businesses should be aware of

I shared the laws regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act and explained the current legal situation.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a law that prohibits discrimination and requires products and public places to be accessible.

There is an accessibility bill for digital products (WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

Places of public accommodation must be accessible, such as providing wheelchair ramps.

There is currently no specific law addressing physical products.

Usually Digital accessibility is worked on by UX & Product teams, and Physical accessibility is addressed by maintenance workers. These two groups don’t really interact, causing a disconnect.

The consumer products industry is currently benefiting from this gray area but I predict it will soon get more of a spotlight on it.

Lawsuits

I advised on how to proactively avoid accessibility lawsuits through analysis of recent lawsuits with relevancy. 

Digital Products:

Out of the Top 500 Internet Retailer list, 412 of them received an ADA-based digital lawsuit related to one of their brands in the last 4 years (as of 2021).  [useablenet.com]

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Usually the first lawsuit is the website, and there’s a second one for mobile apps. Sometimes there are multiple lawsuits filed for the same website, etc. no matter how many times a settlement has been reached, until it’s made accessible. 

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Using an accessibility widget or overlays (a tool to help with accessibility) isn't enough to be considered accessible. In fact, these are seen as a barrier to equal access.

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Physical Facilities:

If someone has a high tech wheelchair that can climb steps, does that mean the restaurant or place is off the hook? Of course not. They can still get fined.

Physical Products:

Consumers already alter items to make them usable.

• Blind folks will frequently add something to a container, to help them tell what it is.
• Such as a hair tie, a drop of nail polish or glue, or braille stickers (there are braille labelmakers). 
• People with low vision use label makers to make text bigger. 
• People with dexterity issues use rubber gloves to get better grip, etc.

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If we already know that accessibility lawsuits are on the rise, and that the use of 3rd party tools is not enough to avoid these, then I think we should anticipate future changes with physical product laws. 

Problem Statement

I reviewed the information so far, compiled the user’s pain points, and defined a problem statement.

User Pain Points:

Existing tactile marks are usually in difficult to reach places, such as the back or bottom.

Not specific enough. Example: Braille may read as “beverage” instead of “Cherry Coke”.

Companies don’t currently use cohesive marks, they just make up their own shape meanings.

Business Considerations:

Companies either aren’t making an effort, or don’t know how to implement accessibility for physical products.

Companies are losing revenue by not having accessible products.

Problem Statement

The consumer products industry is lacking accessible options for choosing & purchasing toys, especially for in-person choices based on packaging.

Solution

With the data showing a market for these consumers, I returned to my hypothesis, expanded on it, and named it Tactile IndustryMarks.

Hypothesis from earlier:

Using tactile marks on packaging to represent play patterns may help consumers choose and purchase toys.

• These marks would communicate information about the product through touch.

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• They could be cut out or bumped out.

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• This would be a universal library for each industry, such as tactile beautymarks and foodmarks.

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• The word that changes per industry is underlined, and that also reflects the underline that will be required below each mark.

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Solution Continued

My concept is called Tactile IndustryMarks as a whole, but I am constraining myself to consumer toy products, so I will be exploring Tactile PlayMarks.

Each mark will need the underline to make the orientation clear, and this is familiar to most people who know that the numbers 6 and 9 often come with underlines.

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I chose to base PlayMarks on play patterns such as a bow for hair play or heart for cuddly dolls.

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The subject of each Library of IndustryMarks will depend on what benefits the consumer the most for the type of product.

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In some cases, it may be better to have the meaning be a brand, flavor, or style.

Example 1

Hair Play: This can include hair brushing and hair accessories.

Mark Description: Hair bow. Symmetrical. Small cinched center with two rounded edges on each side.

Example 2

Cuddle Play: This can include a doll or soft plushie that you can hold close to your heart and cuddle.

Mark Description: Heart. Symmetrical. Pointed Bottom and two rounded curves at the top.

Building out the Concept

I built out a library of Tactile PlayMark icons that can be used to represent play patterns, which can be downloaded and used by anyone so that there is a universally recognizable library.

You can download them here: Google Drive Link

Defining the Details

I don’t have the resources to prototype these marks on packaging, so I made suggestions for placement and size based on my compiled anecdotal feedback.

Detailed marks should be a minimum of .75in / 2cm

Simple marks should be a minimum of .5in / 1.2cm

The brown shape represents the top panel of a box.

Detailed marks should be within 3in or 7.6cm from an edge.

It should be reachable by a thumb when someone holds the edge of a box.

Placement

• Based on Molly’s feedback, the top of a box or container is ideal, or the Top left of a blister card.

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• If the top isn’t an option, then the top of the side panels are next best.

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• Just not anything too low and not the bottom panel, because you want them to be able to feel it without needing to pick it up and use both hands.  

Business Cost

What resources would this concept require?

No New Materials; Happy Engineer

We already use dielines in files for our structures and diecuts for decorative elements.

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Many companies still use blister molds as well, which would allow the marks to be bumped out. 

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Tears From the Brand Team~

It might end up taking a bite out of a graphic asset.

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I don’t expect anyone to rearrange a whole panel just to accommodate a mark. But if you can, then even better.

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Time is Money; Maybe

Time for package designers to copy & paste the marks. 

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Time needed to communicate with other industry professionals, and all the awkward discussions that come with competitor agreements.

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Facebook Group Feedback

Despite not having user testing, I was able to get feedback from my target audience by sharing my concept in a Facebook group, receiving 20 likes and 15 comments, which I used to improve my concept and expand it with further options.

Read their comments below:

I think a system like this would be particularly helpful for canned goods and other packaged food items.

-Allison S.

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It truly is high time for all packaging to be more readily identifiable.

-Diane P.

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It's a great idea but not economically feasible. Sadly vision world would not bother with the education. 

Thank you for your activism. It is truly appreciated. 

-KH G.

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They might have a common symbol on them but you wouldn’t know which brand you were getting and some people are particular when it comes to the brand

-Kevin P.

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Just wanted to say that this is such a cool idea and it'd definitely be super helpful.

-Karin V.W.

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If anyone tried to get packaging people to do anything, I would like to have the barcodes get a raised marking so that we can find them to find out what’s in it and all.

-Eric S.

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Those who are blind enough to need this help most likely can read braille, those whose visual impairment is not as severe will mostly have no problem using magnifiers and such anyways.

-V. B.

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Simple tactile marks on bottle caps. Not Braille since very few vision impaired ppl know it.

-Charles F.

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Catalogue of Tactile Options

I compiled all the options that I proposed in my concept, as well as some from the user suggestions, into a topline view. This can be utilized based on what information is most beneficial for that product and industry.

Embossed logos so they can find their fav brands. 

Tactile IndustryMarks�

Embossed/debossed “Open Here” arrow for where to open if the packaging is otherwise difficult to open.�

Specific Braille�

Solid rectangle around barcodes. 

4 dots outside each corner of QR codes. 

Combining tactile marks with printed codes allows people to know exactly where to scan with their phone.

This gives them access to even more information that isn’t printed.

Redirection

During my exploration of this concept, I had been accumulating other accessibility information and was struggling with how to share it.

I had been compiling my findings and concept into a slide deck to be able to present to my coworkers and other industry professionals.

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To display the additional information, I decided on a T-shaped introduction for my slide deck.

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This allowed me to start off sharing the general accessibility & inclusive tips at the beginning, and then branch off into my concept as an example to show how you might deep dive into one area.

1

2

3

4

New Beginning to the presentation

I am now adding slides in front of my concept, beginning with some study-based facts about how disabilities are still not well represented compared to other diverse groups, establishing the need for awareness in this subcategory.

1 in 4

Americans have a disability

Yet only 15%

of people with disabilities were represented in recent campaigns

According to an eMarketer 2019 campaign

The top represented categories were women and different ethnicities, and disabilities were the least represented.

Development Examples

Beginning with Development, I provided examples for choosing diverse models and representing various disabilities.

Development

• Packaging
• Product Photoshoots
• Entertainment characters

Mobility:

• Mattel has Barbie characters with wheelchairs and one with a prosthesis. 
• This could be a fun opportunity for fashion.
• Victoria’s Secret released a “Love Cloud Collection” featuring models with crutches, different ages, and down syndrome.

Packaging Models:

• How many of their faces will you see on the front of pack?
• If a child goes into a store and sees your lineup of toys, and the front of the boxes only show hands or nothing at all, are you really getting the diversity across?

Deaf Characters:

• I think some creators just aren’t sure how to depict this communication, but you don’t have to put every interaction in sign language, because they also read lips.
• An example of this done well is Ranking of Kings.
• If you take a video of someone using sign language based on your script, you can use that for animating.

Sensory Needs:

• Netflix’s Bubble movie has an example of a boy with sound sensitivities.
• This is shown with some childhood clips of him visiting doctors and sensory rooms, and he is wearing noise cancelling headphones throughout the movie.

Buying & Opening Examples

Next up was examples of things affecting the experience of choosing and buying products, such as ecomm for online shopping or dexterity required for opening a box, to encourage thinking inclusively.

Development

Consumer Choosing

• Check if you’re using alt text in ecomm images. 
• Note when you create packaging, is there good contrast with the text and important details? 
• Understandably, that can be difficult to do with all the information required to fit on a package but it’s something to keep in mind. 

Opening/Unboxing

• How difficult is it to open for someone with limited dexterity or low vision? 
• How would they know if it needs to opened a specific way?

Product in hand/Play!

• Do they know what to do with it after the box is thrown out? Some kids prefer their own imagination and some appreciate a little direction.
• Hasbro did a Toybox Tools project that gives resources to help children with autism and similar disabilities to explore play.

Learn About Visual Impairments

Before jumping into my tactile project, I added an informational slide about people with visual impairments to reduce assumptions, and then I walked them through the concept.

A Little Background:

Being blind doesn’t necessarily mean they see nothing. Most people who are blind have some usable vision that can help them move around in their environment and do things in their daily lives. 

�The state of legal blindness is determined while you’re wearing your latest glasses prescription. There is no such thing as legal blindness “with my glasses off.” 

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Tools of their trade:

• Screen readers
• “Finger eyes” -Joy Ross, Youtuber
• Magnifiers (physical or apps)
• Apps such as Be My Eyes
• And the classic canes and guide dogs. ���

“It isn’t about what they can or cannot do. It’s about learning the best way to accomplish whatever goals they set out to achieve.” – ibvi.org

3 Types of Considerate Design

I explained the differences between Accessible, Inclusive, and Universal design, and shared examples because it can help when deciding who your target audience is and what they need.

I’ve been using the term Accessibility a lot because it’s recognizable for being related to designing for disabilities. People looking for resources like this would probably be typing “accessibility” into search bars, but this isn’t necessarily the most accurate term.

Accessible Design

Tool that is used on an existing design to adapt it. This is when something is used in a different way than intended, to make it usable for a specific group of people. 

Small target group, not for most people.

Example: Braille, is for a very specific group of people.

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Inclusive Design

Focuses on the process and not the final result. Focuses on a group of people or making the product accessible to a wider range of people.

May not work for everyone. 

Example: Curved cuts on street corners that allow wheelchairs to go up and down. They are also helpful for people with strollers or elderly who can’t lift their legs high.

Later on, raised bumps had to be added near these as a tactile warning, because the visually impaired couldn’t feel the separation between road and sidewalk.

Universal Design

Anyone can use the design how it was intended, without needing to adapt it to use it. 

Not for a specific group of people, this is for everyone.

Example: Motion sensor lights work regardless if you’re in a wheelchair, or short, or tall.

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Summary

I concluded by sharing a table of good and bad design practices based on what I learned throughout this project.

*There are of course exclusions for some things. For example, you should not patent the general concept of a wheelchair but you can patent a specific wheelchair design or configuration.

Measuring Impact

The final slide has a call-to-action stating “What will you improve?” with a Google survey to track the impact this project had, and if it was successful in encouraging inclusive design thinking.

The questions I chose were designed to reveal the type of viewers I’m reaching and what kind of impact it had on their knowledge of DEI in design.

I was working at a company where my department consisted of mostly women, a few men, and few people of color. Everyone on the team was sighted.

Questions from Survey:

• Nationality
• Gender
• What is your field of work?
• Did you learn something new?
• Were there any ideas or concepts shared that were confusing or unclear?
• Did you know the differences between ALL 3: Accessible, Inclusive, and Universal design?
• Did you know that alt text is helpful for BOTH: Screen Readers and Search Engine Optimization?�

• Had you previously been ACTIVELY & INTENTIONALLY using any of these design practices? Select all that apply.
• Optional - If you were already using any of these methods, in what way were you using them? What was it for?
• Optional - Were you using any others not mentioned here?
• Optional - If you weren't using them much, why do you think you or your company have yet to utilize accessible practices?

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• Have you personally been nervous to explore accessibility in your product or packaging out of fear of being offensive or messing up?
• Do you think accessibility of physical products will become a more clearly defined legal requirement?
• Optional - Was there anything this presentation made you curious to learn more about?
• Optional - Did anything else stick out to you as surprising? Was there something you'd never thought about before? Did anything offend you? Any parting thoughts for Carly?

Conclusion

I presented a rough draft to my manager and her boss, and was invited back to present to a larger group at a later date.

Conclusion

• I presented a rough draft to my manager, who was the Senior Graphic Designer of Retail Activation at our company.

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• I presented a small portion to my manager’s boss just to share it along with some ideas I had that were relevant to work we were doing at that time. I did not present the entire thing to her because her time was very limited.

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• I received positive feedback from both of them.

• I was invited back to present at a later date, even though my contract had ended.

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• I did not end up presenting it to the larger group because not long after my contract ended, the company did a re-org.

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• The people I knew in the department had moved around, and there were many new people I didn’t know.

Reflections

I reflected on what I learned, what challenged me, and what I’d do differently.

What I would do differently:

• I would have liked to prototype the Tactile IndustryMarks concept, testing it with both sighted and non sighted people to see how small the icon marks can be while remaining discernable.

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• I would have liked to interview more companies & their employees, to get more of an idea for what the industry is doing (or not doing).

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Challenges:

• I reached out to a few people on LinkedIn whom worked at other companies, to ask if they want to participate, and I didn’t receive any responses.

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• I don’t think I built a super strong case for the need for Tactile Marks but I do think the project itself was a good exercise in how you could approach an accessibility barrier and solve for it.

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• I was surprised to find out that even among the visually impaired community, they are often unaware of just how differently each other are affected by their individual impairments. This led to contradictory responses from the VI community during my surveys.

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