Zappar, a UK based company has come up with a new accessible QR code solution that will help blind and partially sighted people access product information on store shelves and in cabinets at home relatively quickly.

“Accessible QR” brings a slight modification to the regular QR code that we are all familiar with by including a unique, patent pending D3 “dot-dot-dash” pattern around it. This pattern increases the scanning distance of a standard QR code by 7x, enabling visually impaired people to find the information they are looking for from a much farther distance. The accessible QR code not only identifies the product but also provides all the product details in a structured way that can be easily read by VoiceOver. To read these QR codes effectively, Zappar has introduced a new app called Zapvision.

The real challenge in a retail store is not just scanning a single product but also dealing with the complexity of many products and QR codes being recognized but the phone camera. Zapvision takes care of that issue by identifying all the products in a camera view and giving the user ability to find details of the product they are more interested in.

This new accessible QR code requires a simple print change yet significantly enhances the QR code scanning experience and makes it a lot more accessible. Sighted user are still able to scan these codes with their regular phone camera without any change in their experience.

Accessible QR codes are now on packaging for Unilever brands Persia capsules and Ultimate Liquids in the UK. Unilever and Zappar won the Best in Class award for “IOU Universal Design” at the packaging PAC Global Awards.

Source: Forbes