There are numerous technological tools designed to promote a more inclusive purchasing system.
But how do we implement them?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many things have changed in the realm of communication. From social distancing and isolation to business closures, the global health crisis has forced us to use different technological tools to talk, work, and even make purchases through the Internet.
Online transactions have soared in 2020, leading large and small e-commerce services to enhance their digital channels such as websites, social networks and online shopping services. However, there is a lot that can still be done to increase Digital Accessibility for blind or low vision people.
With the exponential increase in the use of new technologies for commerce in many countries, there are already options to increase usability for a large sector of the world’s population that has totally or partially lost their sense of vision.
Innovations have been made in many areas of commerce, from retail, to the pharmaceutical industry, to food delivery and even to transportation services. That being said, we are still far from ending the digital divide that often secludes the differently abled.
There are technologies available to increase access, such as telephone assistance during the purchase of a product and during the online payment process, enabling visually impaired people to make expeditious and safe purchases.
Lazarillo is on the front lines of this technological innovation. We have begun partnering with businesses to provide assistive shopping through our app. The technology works through a video call that connects customers with a previously trained sales executive, providing users with a personalized service that ranges from the dictation of an article to the recommendation of an expert on how customers could optimize the interior or exterior space of a specific place.
One of our partners is Sodimac Chile: the largest big-box, home improvement retail chain in Latin America specialized in home improvement. We also invite other companies from different industries to join us in this inclusive challenge at a global level, working toward a new digital era in which technology can make life easier for all people.
