RNIB partners with Kellogg's to trial accessible packaging

For World Sight Day, RNIB has partnered with Kellogg's to produce accessible information on cereal boxes for blind and partially sighted people.

Available in almost 60 Co-op stores across the UK today (8 October 2020), the boxes use pioneering technology called NaviLens to allow a smartphone to detect and playback labelling and allergen information to shoppers.

This trial comes after research from RNIB revealed that nine in 10 blind and partially sighted people feel that information on food packaging is difficult or impossible to read. If successful, Kellogg's hopes to adapt more of its cereal boxes to include this technology.

Marc Powell, strategic accessibility lead at RNIB, says: “This trial with Kellogg’s has raised the bar in inclusive and accessible packaging design – allowing people with low or no vision to locate a product on the shelf and access all information about it completely independently for the very first time.”

NaviLens allows smartphones to pick up information

The new technology, called NaviLens, can be used both in-store and in the home. It allows smartphones to pick up an on-pack code from up to three metres distance when a blind or partially sighted shopper points their device in the direction of the cereal box. This then alerts the phone and the shopper can choose to have the ingredients, allergen and recycling information read aloud to them – as well as reading it on their device using accessibility tools. 

Chris Silcock, Kellogg’s managing director, adds: “Over two million people in the UK live with sight loss and are unable to simply read the information on our cereal boxes. That’s why we partnered with RNIB to trial special boxes of Coco Pops with NaviLens technology - a first for food packaging. If the trial is a success, we would hope that it could appear on more of our cereal boxes for visually impaired shoppers to access.”

Marc explains: “Important information on packaging can often be in very small print, making it difficult for blind and partially sighted people to read. This can make shopping a real challenge, especially for those with specific dietary requirements – as they can’t see the all-important nutritional information. 

The limited-edition World Sight Day Coco Pops cereal boxes are also embossed with braille and the on-pack information is in a larger font size.

Transcript of the NaviLens video

Don’t have a box? You can download NaviLens and use the NaviLens tag on screen to receive the information on the Kellogg’s Coco Pops box.