I know that i’ve said it before, but I really do love the Beauty Industry, as I really like that I can wake up feeling pretty rubbish, cleanse my Skin, apply my Skincare Routine and actually feel better. Unfortunately though, there are a few things that I don’t like about the Beauty Industry, including it’s appalling lack of accessibility, and I thought that I would tell you the five things that I think the Beauty Industry could do to make themselves more accessible to the Visually Impaired community.
Anyway, that’s enough of me rambling, here’s five things the Beauty Industry could do to make themselves more accessible to the Visually Impaired community.
A picture of the Aldi Lacura Pineapple Face Serum.
1. Start using different and distinctive packaging.
For some reason, most if not all Skincare comes in very similar looking and feeling packaging, including Glass Bottles with a Rubber Pipette Lid, Glass Jars with a screw top Lid, and tall conical Plastic Tubes with a clickable Lid, which when you can’t see the product that you’re grabbing can become very dangerous. I’ve lost count of the amount of times that i’ve accidentally picked up the wrong product because it looked so similar to the product that I was looking for, including when I once accidentally used my Conditioner as Toothpaste, so it would be great if products didn’t always come in such generic packaging.
A picture of the L’Occitane Fleurs De Cerisier Eau De Toilette.
2. Start using Braille on their product labels.
I know that brands such as L’Occitane and Pantene have started adding Braille to their labels, but unfortunately they’re really in the minority, which given that most Beauty brands have millions of pounds to design, market and launch their products, adding Braille to their labels really wouldn’t cost them that much and would benefit thousands of Blind and Visually Impaired people.
A picture of an iPhone, a silver pen, a notebook, and a laptop on a white table.
3. Start using Alt text in their Social Media Posts and on their Websites.
Unfortunately I don’t think that this is the fault of most Beauty brands, as i’ve spoken to quite a lot of Beauty Press and Marketing Executives over the past seven years and very few of them actually know what Alt Text is or how to use it properly. Obviously this isn’t an excuse as to why they don’t use Alt Text in their Social Media Posts or on their Websites, but it does go someway to explaining why they don’t, especially when Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have made it so easy for them to add Alt Text to their Posts.
4. Start using Audio Description on their TV Adverts.
I understand that most Beauty brands have an aesthetic to get across when they launch a TV Advert, as most Advertising Campaigns are designed to make you want to go out and spend your hard earned Money on whatever it is that they’re trying to sell. But I really do think that adding Audio Description to their TV Adverts would make Blind and Visually Impaired people want to buy more products. If they can’t or don’t want to start adding Audio Description to their TV Adverts, the least that they could do is actually say at the end of the TV Advert what the brand is called so that we can look it up later, as many TV Adverts nowadays are just a series of images set to some funky Music.
A picture of The Body Shop Leeds Briggate Expert Facial Masks.
5. Stop rearranging their Stores.
I totally understand that whenever a Beauty brand launches a new product that space needs to be made on the shelves so that people can buy it, but it is incredibly frustrating when the launch of say a Shampoo means that the entire Haircare Isle has to be rearranged, as the way that we shop is quite specific and usually means that we use markers to find the products that we’re looking for in a store. For instance, in my local The Body Shop store, I know that as soon as I walk into the store that i’m met with a massive Table full of all of their new releases, and that I can then either turn right and follow the wall around to get to all of the Bath & Body products or turn left and follow the Wall around to get to all of the Skincare and Face Masks. When a Beauty brand rearranges it’s store, not only does it totally confuse us, but nine times out of ten it makes us want to walk out of the store and never return again.
There you go, that’s the five things the Beauty Industry could do to make themselves more accessible to the Visually Impaired community.
What do you think the Beauty Industry could do to make themselves more accessible to the Visually Impaired community? Have you had any accidents because of indistinctive product packaging? Do you use markers to navigate a store when you’re shopping too? Please let me know down below.
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Luke x
