Information for Tactile Reading: A Study of Tactile Ergonomics of Packaging for Blind People

Abstract

This article presents a gap identified during a research on accessible packaging and the difficulty in tactile reading of the braille system by blind individuals. The study was carried out with five users (four blind and one with visual acuity of 5%) being two of them braille readers. The study analyzed the difficulty in reading and identify the information contended in the food packaging. The data were collected through interview, photo and filming. The interviewees signed the TCLE (Consent Form Free and Informed) and then a questionnaire was carried out with open and closed questions. After some laboratory evaluations, the difficulties of recognizing some braille transcripts were identified; one of the problems was in the braille height. We compared the tactile information content in five different food products in Brazilian packages resulting in suggestions for improvements in the communication of information to visually impaired people. To obtain the results of this study, we also evaluated the physical characteristics of the Braille code printed on the packages, mainly the height of the system that allows the tactile reading. It was verified that the height values presented have a significant sample variation. These results help users with difficulties in understanding the information contained in packaging’s using the braille tactile reading.