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New Vision Podcast
New Vision Podcast
The mark they cannot see: When consumer protection leaves the blind behind [PART 2]
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This two-part podcast by Jesse Johnson James explores the gap between policy and lived reality for visually impaired consumers in Uganda, despite the country’s progress toward inclusive development under the Millennium Development Goals.
The podcast ultimately asks a critical question: can a system truly protect all citizens if it excludes some? Until inclusive measures are fully implemented, consumer safety in Uganda will remain uneven, visible only to those who can see it.
Under the Sustainable Development Goal, no one should be left behind. A clarion call for the vulnerable unless privileged to be given special consideration. For developing countries like Uganda, achieving complete consumer protection remains work in progress. Gadget manufacturers are leading the way by making accessible technology even for people with disabilities. What needs to be done for producers of essential consumer goods to follow suit? Solutions are being engineered at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, UNBS. Patricia Bagane Eljalo is the UNBS Deputy Director for Standards. At what stage are we?
SPEAKER_00The UNBS certification mark is the visible evidence that a product is meeting the requirements of the standards and UNBS has certified it accordingly. When it comes to issues of accessible packaging for persons with disabilities and in particular those who are blind, it is an area that has not been handled very much. Standards development is very much demand-driven. The areas we have actually handled have come through demand for standards for wheelchairs, for accessibility to buildings, and we do have a standard that is available for braille signage, equipment, and appliances. Now, this standard I do not think goes down to issues of like a label on the Q mark per se. So it is something that we need to look into, of course. It is right that people who have uh psych disabilities should be able to tell if a product is certified using Braille, and it's something we should take up.
SPEAKER_01How much longer do we need to wait? But Gene believes that with concerted efforts and multi-stakeholder engagements, accessible product labels are possible.
SPEAKER_00When we are developing standards, we involve all the people concerned. And so, as we did when we were developing the standards for wheelchairs and building accessibility and even the signage for braille, the associations that bring people together were consulted and they participated in the development of those standards. So we shall have a look at the standard that exists actually, the one for signage, and review it to see if it is applicable to the Q mark. If it is, it is something we can incorporate in what we call the digital conformity mark, which is the mark that is now coming on to allow people to check with the phone and see if the product is safe or not. It's a digital mark and we should be able to cater for Braille in that particular mark.
SPEAKER_01Experts agree that accessible packaging is a public health issue. Here is Sam Watasa, Executive Director of Uganda Consumer Protection Association, UCPA.
SPEAKER_03There are estimates of anywhere up to 160,000 people that are considered totally blind, and we have about 2.8 million people with moderate to severe visual impairment in the country. Looking at the whole spectrum and um consumer protection ecosystem in the country, I think it is safer to say that we do not have standards or policy or even regulations that specifically address themselves to labeling that is supportive of people with visual impairment. As to whether access should be considered part of consumer safety, yes, the basic entry point for consumer safety and consumer protection is the right to information. So the interface between a consumer and a product or service that may be either in a supermarket shelf or a pharmaceutical product that is in a pharmacy or a drug shop, the primary interface for consumer protection is in being able to know what the product is and what it constitutes. Therefore, the information on there, which is the standard labels we have that are in text, ought to ordinarily be able to support uh people with visual impairment to be able to understand what they are about and therefore purchase with knowledge.
SPEAKER_01So, what policy changes are needed to address this gap?
SPEAKER_03We therefore need I can't say policy change, we have laws that that support um interventions for the disabled. I think we will need to revisit these laws and see whether we can develop regulations on labeling standards in the country to support uh the various aspects of disability, not just visual impairment. In other jurisdictions like America, there is the America Disability Act, which requires that labeling should be done in a manner that enables the disabled to access information. Things like braille labeling is required by those laws, and uh we have several other methods. Tactile labeling is one of those which helps those that are blind or with severe loss of sight to be able to understand what is in the labels. Braille is used now and then, there are raised lettering and shapes, there are requirements for high contracts and large print for those that have low vision, so you have optimal contracts, large fonts and and the likes. Therefore, as a country, I think we need to work through an interagency arrangement to ensure that we put in place mechanisms and standards that require labeling that helps those that are disabled generally and specifically those that are visually impaired to be able to understand what the labels say.
SPEAKER_01If the problem is known and solutions exist, why aren't they being used? Susan Nakage, co-founder and finance officer at Visual Assistance Initiative Limited, points out that technologies already exist and are in use in some special needs schools.
SPEAKER_05There are technologies that can help bridge this gap. One is the text-to-speech technology, which helps to read text to speech so that the visually impaired can listen. On top of that, there is an app or application that is built to help the visually impaired read ordinary printed textbooks. This is called the Blind Assistant Application that has been developed by Visual Assistance Initiative, our company in Uganda. This makes it fully accessible and it has been deployed in six schools of the visually impaired in Uganda. This innovation is making markets more inclusive that even the visually impaired can now read on their behalf, detect money just like any other cited person.
SPEAKER_01Disability rights advocates say accessibility must be a standard, not an afterthought. Here is a lawyer again.
SPEAKER_02Those who manufacture the products should think about the different categories of consumers with different kinds of disabilities also. They should not only think about making products and and taking them to market, they should think about those people with visual impairments who may be able to read braille. It doesn't take a lot to impose braille writings on those products if they have the will. The only thing is have the will. If you have the will, then you will also have a budget and you have the design to help let these individuals also access the products. I definitely also call upon the Uganda National Bureau of Standards to ensure that uh those writings that are put they can also be put in braille because we pay tax. As we buy products, we are also contributing to the tax.
SPEAKER_01And back at Gulhigh School, Lona Akite continues to demand a change to the way she shops.
SPEAKER_04You cannot tell the blind person or someone who cannot see to read something that it is in print, not in braille form. That person will be unable to read it because he or she cannot see the writings on it. So that one is the biggest challenge that we people with visually impaired are having.
SPEAKER_01A certification mark is meant to guarantee safety, but for hundreds of thousands of visually impaired consumers, that promise remains out of reach. Until accessibility is mandated, the protection intended for everyone will remain visible only to some in the larger population. UNBS budgets must therefore be adequately facilitated to rid the supermarket shelves of expired consumer goods in order to mechanically continue to protect those unable to protect themselves for the time being. For New Vision podcasts, I am Jesse Johnson James.