President Biden promised the delivery of 500 million at-home COVID tests so people could avoid appointments and long wait times at state-provided testing sites and have easy access to testing in the event of exposure. Unfortunately, from packaging to the testing procedure itself, many blind Americans have only found more barriers in the process.
The whole testing experience is inaccessible
The immediate problem with at-home COVID test is that the results are visual. The instructions state that lines will form (or not form) depending on whether the test detects COVID-19 in your saliva or mucus. For someone who is blind – or even moderately visually impaired – this test is unusable.
Brian Switzer, a deafblind assistive technology instructor at Fast Company, shared his frustrations when he took a test at home.
“Even just unwrapping it, figuring out what the different features are, the directions, how to use it, all of that required being able to read the text on the box.”
Much of the directions for the COVID-19 tests are written in small fonts and use colors that don’t contrast significantly with the paper they are printed on. The sheer amount of information that comes with the tests can be difficult to navigate and overwhelming for people trying to figure out the tests.
Related: Barriers to Accessible Healthcare and Ways to Overcome Them
As a result, those who are blind report asking seeing friends or partners for help with the test to make sure they record the results correctly. Which means that, for many blind Americans, testing for exposure to COVID requires interaction with individuals who may or may not have COVID themselves.
Tools are available, but there are calls for independence
People who are blind have multiple options to get help with at-home COVID tests. In the UK, they can use Be My Eyes to get help with rapid COVID tests. This app connects people who are blind with a seeing volunteer. This person will walk you through the testing process and report the results. Aira is also an app that provides virtual interpreting for everyday tasks like reading the mail and shopping online.
While many friends and family members are also eager to help people who are blind with their tests, the end goal shouldn’t be to leave those who have vision impairments without accommodation. Right now, it’s up to those who are blind to know about these virtual interpreting apps or to find a friend or pharmacist to assist them. There is no built-in support.
“Ideally, we’d like for people with disabilities to open and use a product from beginning to end without relying on assistance from other people,” says Switzer.
As a result, a complete stranger becomes privy to your medical information and knows whether or not you have COVID before you hear the news yourself.
Traveling for tests isn’t always an option
If people who are blind can’t navigate at-home tests, then their next option is to travel to a testing center. This creates additional challenges and burdens on individuals. Most people who are visually impaired cannot drive. This means they have to ask a friend or family member to drive them, pay for a taxi, or navigate public transit. And many testing sites use drive-through models (like CVS and Walgreens), which makes it hard for people who don’t have a car or cannot drive.
Entrepreneurs are developing alternative testing options
The at-home COVID-19 tests aren’t the only tools that rely on visual cues for patients. There are multiple tests and medical devices (like pregnancy tests) that turn different colors or provide different lines to tell a user about their health. In response to these highly-visual tests, some entrepreneurs are taking steps to provide alternatives that can be used by people who are blind.
In January, the New York Times highlighted the efforts of Martin Wingfield at the Royal National Institute of Blind People in Britain. He is working to develop an at-home pregnancy test that delivers results through raised bumps. They also discussed the work of Hoby Wedler, a chemist who is blind and who is developing tests that deliver results through different smells or changes in temperature. Because most at-home tests use chemicals that change color, it’s possible to find similar chemicals that emit unique odors.
The main issue for these devices is price. It would cost more for companies to manufacture devices that create raised bumps or change temperature. There also has to be corporate buy-in to convince executives that there is a significant need to move away from the standard visual cues.
There needs to be a multi-step approach to accessibility
More people who are blind are calling on the developers of at-home COVID tests to create better products. Not only do the visual cues for tests need alternative options, but the whole packaging needs to be rethought. This isn’t just a matter of adding braille instructions to the text – especially because 80 percent of blind people don’t read braille. Accessibility means providing multiple options, including large text, audio recordings, and videos.
These alternatives won’t just benefit testers who are blind or visually impaired. They will also help other people who have difficulty reading the small text on the pages. Accessibility can benefit those with dyslexia or people with cognitive learning disabilities that have trouble reading the papers.
More than 12 million people over the age of 40 have some form of vision impairment in the United States. Even more have dyslexia or difficulty reading and processing text. By making these tests more accessible, a significant number of Americans will have an easier time knowing if they are positive for COVID-19.
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