Every day, with the increased demands of an informed public, people living with impaired vision expect that a wide variety of products should be accessible through the use of technology.
There is no doubt that the year 2020 will make history. Because of this year, today we live in a period of learning, of constant change and adjustment to what we only imagined as a distant concept – the “New Normal”. This has already begun throughout the world and now we can also assume it is a new way of life.
If we analyze this year from the perspective of large technology companies and how they have had to completely restructure e-commerce marketing strategies, one of their focuses has been on how to bring their messaging to consumers, no matter who they are or where they are. According to recent studies, the absolute and unequivocal initiation of a new digital era has already begun, advancing this process by at least 5 years.
Banking is one of the leading largest industries and one renowned for customer service, which has pioneered the integration of virtual tools worldwide to create a better user experience for millions of customers. Certainly, many of their customers, who may live with either visual or physical disabilities, also desire technology to help them connect with and become part of the financial world.
In Chile, for example, there are two large banking institutions that have decided to become more accessible, focusing their efforts on people with visual disabilities. One of them is Banco Estado, which has around 500 branches and has implemented a geolocation service in many of them by using Lazarillo, which allows blind and visually impaired clients to locate them more easily, in addition to an internal navigation system that guides users to service areas via voice messages.
Similarly, Banco Chile became part of this opportunity, which during the pandemic has provided their clients with information on new products, branch operations and service protocols by using the news service that Lazarillo created during the first half 2020. This service reaches all the people who maintain the application on their mobile devices.
Our work in banking is also continuing with the addition of the BAC Credomatic group, which is located in various Central American countries and today provides information to people with visual disabilities through Lazarillo App in Costa Rica, making products and services accessible at nearby banking locations.
It is evident that in order to know and understand the scope of needs experienced by blind and visually impaired people, you first must personally understand them. This has precisely been Lazarillo’s commitment to its thousands of users from the beginning, and the driving force that motivates us to invite companies to implement initiatives that complement and strengthen an ecosystem of inclusion in all areas.
Thus, by involving the banking industry including retail, large and small e-commerce, and public and private entities in each country, the possibility of bringing these institutions and companies even closer to creating accessibility is now a reality that will continue to reach more people with disabilities all over the world, and which we are fully prepared to implement at Lazarillo.
