Zappar has announced the integration of its Accessible QR (AQC) codes into the award-winning Envision app, which empowers people who are blind or have low vision to access everyday visual information for themselves. The move expands the reach of this new assistive technology to hundreds of thousands of blind and partially-sighted people around the world.

Already available on millions of Unilever Persil packs across the UK, the move continues the conversation around enhanced, accessible QR on packs, helping blind and partially sighted communities more easily access product information from product packaging both in a store and at home.

Zappars Accessible QR solution, Zapvision, incorporates a unique, patent-pending, D3 ‘dot-dot-dash’ pattern around a traditional QR code. This pattern increases the scanning distance of a standard QR code printed at 15mm on pack by 7x to announce the product category, and 4x for detailed information related to the product. This gives blind and partially sighted people access to all the information available on pack, including instructions, ingredients, safety warnings, recycling information and promotions. The information presented is provided in a structured way, designed with blind and partially-sighted users in mind and interacts with the device’s configured accessibility features, displaying information in larger text or via audio. 

“We are thrilled to partner with Envision App to bring our Accessible QR codes to an even wider audience,” said Zappar CEO, Caspar Thykier. “This collaboration is at the core of our mission to bring greater accessibility to product information on packaging for those who are blind or partially sighted while utilising the apps they are most comfortable with and already use in their daily lives. This is just the start of the journey, but is another important step in making product information on packaging more equitable, to everyone, everywhere.”

To access the functionality within the Envision App, users need to navigate to the ‘Scan Accessible QR’ button from the app’s main menu and then scan the AQR codes on the front of selected Unilever products. They then hear an audio narration of all the information available on the packaging in a structured and accurate way. 

In addition to the Envision integration, the Accessible QR codes are also available in Microsoft’s SeeingAI app and the free-to-download Zapvision app on iOS. The technology is also available as a royalty-free SDK for developers to integrate into their own app. 

“We are delighted to add the Accessible QR scanner to our app and to give our users more options on how to access product information on their terms,” said Envisikon CEO, Karthik Mahadevan. “We hope that consumer goods companies the world over adopt this new standard of accessibility.”