The Significance of Packaging Accessibility
- Cosmac
- Oct 25, 2023
- 4 min read
Written by: Jaclyn Marco
October 26th, 2023
Accessibility is the practice of creating environments, products, services and digital content that can be used by as many people as possible. This is to foster inclusivity and break down barriers related to disabilities, age, or other unique circumstances so that these things can be enjoyed by everyone. It is an essential aspect of modern society and its importance is multifaceted as it encompasses a wide range of social, economic and ethical factors that impact people’s everyday lives.
The importance of accessibility cannot be understated as it goes hand in hand with inclusivity, as to be accessible to all is part of what it means to be inclusive. It is a social responsibility of designers, as a way to create equal opportunity and social equity. By having it at the forefront of design, it can empower and aid independence. Inaccessible packaging can be a detriment to the health and well-being of users as not being able to access things such as medication or food because of packaging will of course have a negative effect. Making designs accessible can positively affect a user's experience as well as take out any potential frustrations they may have with a product, avoiding negative feelings.
There are many that are affected by inaccessible packaging, as strength, dexterity and cognition are some of the main capability issues when it comes to packaging (Yoxall et al., 2019, 496-507). Under these categories, there are the issues of visual ability level and motor control. A common example of a condition affecting someone’s ability to interact with products and their packaging is vision impairments. Over two million people globally have some form of distance visual impairment (World Health Organisation, 2023). There are many different types of vision impairment, and this number only represents one group – the figure is even higher when taking count of all the different groups To those who have greater difficulty seeing, type that is too small detailing instructions or labelling the contents of a package can hinder their ability to use it. If one is completely blind, having no tactile indicators on a unit carton can leave them completely lost as to the contents inside.
Another example is people with mobility issues. Worldwide, over half a million people live with osteoarthritis and its prevalence is expected to continue to rise (World Health Organization, 2023). This is only the most common type of arthritis and does not account for other forms of the condition. People with arthritis have a hard time with certain packaging formats because of the pain, stiffness, and weakness they have in their hands (Lintott, 2019). This pain can make it hard to grip things, thus glass jars, small screw-top bottles and small tab opening mechanisms are especially difficult.
The age of the user is another important factor when considering the accessibility of products. While age is experienced differently from person to person, it is acknowledged that there are social and psychological issues as well as physical concerns that come when one is older (Sudbury-Riley, 2014). It directly limits their ability to utilize certain packaging structures. This becomes even more of an issue as the median age of the population increases, and important for everyone’s future that accessibility is not just an afterthought for designers.
Cosmetic packaging is no exception when it comes to the inaccessibility pitfalls of conventional packaging. When any packaging designer ignores the limitations of their designs, it will harm the user no matter what type of product is being contained in the packaging itself. The main methods of making more accessible packaging are having legible and high-contrast graphics, including tactile information elements, and ensuring that the package is easy to open (Galizzi, 2022). High-contrast graphics and tactile information elements will aid the range of different visual needs of consumers. Both people with colour blindness and those who are visually impaired have difficulty understanding product labels and information when the colours that are being used do not have much of a visual difference from one another in terms of lightness. The use of tactile printing on packaging helps those who are blind, as it provides an alternative method for them to understand the product. For physical impairments for packaging use, it must be easy to open. The ideal method for this is to have many different ways for an item to be opened safely (Galizzi, 2022). When that is not possible, then limit the use of ties or plastic wrapping.
That all being said, when designing truly accessible packaging, consulting with those who have difficulty with packaging and having them test the design is the best to gauge its effectiveness with every possible user. Having a dialogue includes those who have these difficulties in the conversation and helps the designer to account for their needs.
References
Galizzi, L. (2022, April 5). How to Make Packaging More Accessible. Packaging
Lintott, R. (2019, April 30). Accessible packaging: evolving for arthritic consumers.
Packaging Gateway. https://www.packaging-gateway.com/features/accessible-
Sudbury-Riley, L. (2014, August 26). Unwrapping senior consumers’ packaging
experiences. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 32(issue 6). https://www-
World Health Organization. (2023, July 14). Osteoarthritis. World Health Organization
(WHO). Retrieved October 25, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-
World Health Organization. (2023, August 10). Blindness and vision impairment. World
Health Organization (WHO). Retrieved October 25, 2023, from
Yoxall, A., Gonzalez, V., Best, J., Rodriguez-Falcon, E. M., & Rowson, J. (2019, July 10).
As you like it: Understanding the relationship between packing design and
accessibility. Packaging Technology and Science, Vol 32(Issue 10), p. 496-507.
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