Briefing: Accessible Labelling - Opinion - Time to remove barriers to independence for the blind.

The lack of accessible labelling is a major issue for blind and partially sighted people. Access to information about products is a constant challenge and shopping independently is by and large impossible.

While EU legislation introducing Braille on pharmaceutical packaging was a step in the right direction for Braille users, it is not a panacea. There is a physical limit to how much information one can emboss on packaging, and therefore not enough space to include essential information, such as safety instructions for example. But it is also important to remember that the majority of blind and partially sighted people cannot read Braille.

In the UK there are almost …