As more and more brands become only available online organisations like Zara really need to get on top of online accessibility for all.

Do people think that blind people don’t like fashion, or enjoy online clothes shopping? 

Judging by the poor user experience of a lot of clothing websites - you’d think so!

Back in the day when we were allowed to go shopping in the flesh, browse the aisles, feel the fabrics and try on as many items as you’d like I like most have my few favourite brands and shops... 

Zara being towards the top of my list of shops to visit. In fact I’m well known for being a Zara fanatic, a friend will say “love that, where’d you get it from,” and they’d answer their own questions “Let me guess, Zara!”

Here we are, in 2021 still living through a pandemic and as we all know the actual physical aspect of clothes shopping diminishing, however somehow we have to meet our shopping needs, wants and cravings! 

Online shopping it is.. I mean, not always to spend money of course, a little browse won’t hurt... Famous last words!!

But of course, blind people don’t shop online do they!?  Meeting contrast standards is unheard of, flashing content is intense and uncomfortable, and if you’re a screen reader user, you can forget it! For a blind user like myself who simply loves shopping, and although the lack of online accessibility is probably saving me a lot of money, it is costing big brands and organisations billions!  Clearly accessibility is not a big consideration if a consideration at all for Zara and many others - perhaps little old me seems unimportant but losing out on ££££’s should be a huge concern. 

Pandemic or not I still have my cravings, I still want and like to keep on trend and need to update my wardrobe to cheer myself up, in what is very dark times in the age of coronavirus.  

I have worked with the accessibility departments of various fashion houses and I have to say the changes they have made have made a huge difference to my online shopping experiences! 

For instance at ASOS, alt texts are appropriately applied, colour contrasts are better met and the ability to change to “dark mode,” to reduce any unwanted eye strain and headaches. But even ASOS doesn’t sell everything. 

Where are all the other accessible experiences?

I was asked by Berkshire Vision (previously Berkshire County Blind Society) to do a small presentation to a local school on Wednesday 23 September.

The children had been asked to design a remote control accessible to all.

It was my pleasure to talk to this group of children about accessibility for those not just with deafblind, but those with other disabilities.

Children are so receptive to this sort of challenge and I was impressed with the many ideas they came up with.

It dawned on me that these children are our future and that they can and will make a difference to people like myself with their fresh and intuitive ideas.

I have visited schools around the country and discussed Usher Syndrome, anti bullying and the importance of inclusion, understanding and acceptance of those of us who are ‘different’ for whatever reason.

I suffered at the hands of bullies and also as a result of a great deal of ignorance and I don’t want others to suffer in the same way.

I rely on technology to access most things and it is so refreshing and exciting to see what children are capable of now and to imagine what will come as they become adults.

keep up the great work kids and please keep me up to date with your designs and remember if you design something and consider accessibility features from the very beginning you will make your product inclusive to so many more people, including me!

We really need to get beyond the assumption that all deaf people hear nothing and all blind people see nothing.

There are those with no sight at all and there are people with no hearing at all, however there are lots of variations in between.

People born blind are different to those who go blind and the same with deafness, all need to be considered for accessibility.

I'm no expert, have just learnt these things since going from deaf to deafblind as a result of Usher Syndrome.

Being born deaf means I was brought up a visual learner and even though registered blind, not partially sighted, I choose to use my 5 degrees of useful vision to access information.

I accept that at some stage I might need to transition to voiceover, I am fortunate, I could access voiceover with my linx2 hearing aids, with my previous Phonak hearing aids I would not have been able to even consider using voiceover.

When you consider lots with Usher Syndrome in the UK will be using standard NHS hearing aids, many without direct bluetooth connectivity making voiceover a no no - this is one of many reasons why deafblind hearing aid users should have access to the best available assistive technology as using their eyes is not always an option, as may well become the case for me going forward, however at this time I choose to read text.

I continue to find accessing information online and using apps difficult as there remains insufficient accessibility features available to me.

The regular fob off is there is voiceover for the blind, not all blind use it and I am deafblind or there are captions for the deaf which are often too quick for me to keep up with.

It took forever for Facebook to get dynamic text as a feature, we are still waiting for a choice of colours and contrasts.  Will it ever come, who knows?

Just over a week ago I attempted to contact Waterstones Book Shop with a view to them stocking my children's books and I was faced with this https://www.waterstones.com/help/independent-publishers/48 impossible for me to read, colours made it completely inaccessible.  I'm told this matter will be looked into.  In the meantime I've had to have additional help, not quite how I want it to be at 21 years old!

Then last week LinkedIn. LinkedIn offer voiceover and nothing else, there is no dynamic text, no way of changing colours or contrasts or changing text sizes on their app.

It is possible to use the iPhone zoom feature - is it right to assume every LinkedIn user will have an iPhone?

I may well have Usher Syndrome which is a progressive condition without a cure, however, as people grow older they too begin to need larger text more choice in colours and contrasts, they do not just switch to voiceover.

The accessibility features I speak of would help huge numbers of people so why are these things not taken into account by developers right at the beginning?

Frustrating is an understatement for the way I feel. Sadly so much remains inaccessible and wonder when it will all change?

All I can do is hope access for all comes sooner rather than later!