Inclusive Packaging
Take a moment to imagine a life without sight. Or without the full use of your limbs. Everyday tasks like finding your favourite breakfast cereal and opening the box would be much more difficult.
So why don’t manufacturers make more accessible packaging? Including braille on the box and making it easier to open and close helps widen your audience and improve customer loyalty.
Braille Packaging
Braille is widely used on pharmaceutical packaging as it’s a legal requirement – blind and partially sighted people need to be able to tell they’re taking the right amount of the right drug. But it’s suitable for food packaging and retail products too. Virtually anything that comes in a box or has a paper label can benefit from braille.
The beauty of braille is that blind and partially sighted people are able to pick your box out of the cupboard or off the supermarket shelf, even when it’s surrounded by other, similar boxes. It means they can be more independent and easily read ingredients, and allergy and safety information.
Braille is a low-cost way to differentiate yourself from other brands – it shows you care.
Easy Opening
We all struggle to open jars and packages at times, but for some people, mobility and strength problems mean it’s a daily occurrence. According to Arthritis Care, one in five adults have arthritis in the UK – that’s over 10 million people. And this is just one example of one condition.
Inclusive design aims to make packaging usable by a wider range of people. It’s great for customer satisfaction and ultimately, improving sales. When you consider that the proportion of older people in the UK is increasing every year, the market for easy-open products is huge.
It’s not just consumer products that need sensible packaging. Corrugated cartons used to send goods to retailers can be designed to be easier to open as well. This is especially important if you’re sending products like books, which could be damaged if the recipient feels they need to use a knife to open the package.
The best thing about accessible packaging is that it’s for everyone. It’s simply good design. Get in touch for advice on making your packaging as user-friendly as possible.