A year after releasing its tactile shampoo and conditioner bottles, Herbal Essences has expanded its capabilities for consumers who are visually impaired.
The brand has introduced an Amazon Alexa tool allowing consumers to ask questions about Herbal Essences’ products, ingredients and personal recommendations.
Meanwhile, its Be My Eyes app is a free service that connects blind and visually impaired customers with in-house experts through a live video call.
This allows the consumer to get assistance as they shop in-store, get ready at home or have questions about their hair.
“We get a lot of questions through the app about people’s appearance – do my clothes match, does my make-up look right, do I have any fly-aways?” said Will Butler, Be My Eyes’ VP Community.
“It’s great when we can have experts from a specific, in-demand field, like hair care, to provide an elevated level of service for our community.
“We hope other brands will take notes of this effort in making their products and themselves more accessible to this community in an effort to truly serve all customers.”
Herbal Essences’ tactile innovation was spearheaded by P&G’s Accessibility Leader Sumaira Latif, who is visually impaired herself.
Commenting on the new technology, she said: “A universal tactile marking seems like such a small thing, and yet as a blind woman it’s the little things that make such a big difference in my life.
“I’m excited to broaden the positive impact this has had for the visually impaired community and deliver on our mission to help everyone experience the positive power of nature every day.”
In addition, Herbal Essences’ website will feature screen reading technology from January 2020.
