Ramping up accessibility

In late 2018, Instagram rolled out new accessibility features on their platform to enrich the user experience of visually impaired users. Support for alternative text, verbal descriptions of images attached to the image itself, has been implemented into Instagram’s app allowing users to add their own custom descriptive text to a post, available for screen reading aid software to relay to visually impaired users. Additionally, an automatic alternative text function that utilises AI to recognise and list the objects present in an image for screen reading software has also been developed for the app. This inclusive effort comes as part of a wider trend of accessibility and consideration for consumers with disabilities, with Instagram’s announcement of the features explicitly recognising the 285 million visually impaired people within the global population.1

Why should retailers pay particular care to accessibility concerns in their products and experiences?

Beyond the obvious moral reasons to make a product accessible for as many people as possible, regardless of their circumstances, there exists a legitimate business case in doing so. Consumers place value on Corporate Social Responsibility and take it into consideration when making purchase decisions.2 Through not only representing consideration for accessibility but also putting it into practise through service and product design, brands have an avenue to build a positive consumer-corporate relationship with potential customers. On a more straightforward level, people with disabilities represent an emerging market that has so far remained relatively untapped. Within Australia, one in five people have a disability that impacts on their ability to perform everyday tasks.3 This 20% of the population represents a combined AU$54 million of disposable annual income largely ignored by major brands.4

But how can retailers reconsider how they approach accessibility?

While Instagram’s recent change to accessibility was user oriented and specific to their service, there are more general initiatives that retailers may take. Creating a welcoming retail experience that normalises the act of shopping for people with disabilities through focussing on the key factors of staff interaction and store environment can result in considerable improvements to their experience. Retailers should strive for staff interactions that are helpful without being overbearing, allowing for the particular conditions of a customer to be accommodated without drawing specific attention it them.5 The store environment should take on a similar approach, with accessible store layouts and inclusive product displays that demonstrate that considerable care has been taken to embrace customers with disabilities.5 Moving forward, retailers have both a moral and business impetus to embrace accessibility for consumers, facilitating the shopping experiences integral to modern life.

  1. Instagram. (2018). Source.
  2. Kim, H., Hur, W. and Yeo, J. (2015). Corporate Brand Trust as a Mediator in the Relationship between Consumer Perception of CSR, Corporate Hypocrisy, and Corporate Reputation. Sustainability, 7(4), 3683-3694.
  3. Australian Human Rights Commission. (2007). Source.
  4. Diversity Council Australia. (2015). Source.
  5. Baker, S., Holland, J. and Kaufman-Scarborough, C. (2007). How consumers with disabilities perceive “welcome” in retail servicescapes: a critical incident study. Journal of Services Marketing, 21(3), 160-173.