Why packaging needs to be accessible

The deadline for Business Disability Forum’s Disability Smart Awards 2025 has been extended until 26 January, so there is still time to submit your nomination.  

The Disability Smart Inclusive Product Design Award is a great opportunity for brands to showcase the work they are doing to not only make their products more accessible but their packaging too. 

Packaging is a key aspect of product accessibility. When taken into consideration, it can make your product easier to use for disabled consumers. If overlooked, however, it can prevent disabled people from purchasing or being able to use your product. 

BDF’s CEO, Diane Lightfoot, spoke to Packaging Europe about some of the difficulties disabled people experience when it comes to packaging. The following excerpt is taken from Packaging Europe’s ‘Accessible Packaging Report’ published on 17 December 2024 and is reproduced here with their kind permission.  

‘It’s not a controversial statement to say that the people with disabilities are consistently let down by the systems in place around them. Travel can be at best stressful, at worst traumatic; accessible public toilets are often insufficient or non-existent; clothing can be tricky to fasten (and woe betide anyone who wants to look stylish while also finding something that they can put on in the morning and still get to work on time). 

Too often the world does not provide the access required to meet the needs of all, whatever their level of ability. And it’s not that we lack the resources or the capabilities to put these systems in place – it’s that it’s still, even today, not prioritized. So many disabled people I have spoken to say they are not necessarily held back by the disabilities themselves – rather by the world around them that has still not adapted in the way it should. 

The packaging industry has historically been no different in this regard and in many respects it still has a long way to go. Research from Open Inclusion, commissioned by the Business Disability Forum, found that 90% of disabled consumers were affected at the decision-making stage of purchases by either limitations of design, limitations in available information, or how information was presented.

It also found that 65% of disabled consumers who took part in the research said they felt that their choices were limited on a daily basis due a lack of accessibility or inclusion. There is still little in the way of legal requirements for accessible packaging: the ISO standard for accessible design and ease of opening provides some useful guidelines, but this is voluntary only.’ 

The report continues:  

‘The issues around packaging for disabled people broadly fall into a few main categories, although inevitably these will overlap for many: 

• Difficult to open packaging, requiring strength or dexterity; 

• Lack of tactile or auditory cues to identify products; 

• Small, or hard-to-read fonts on labels; 

• Complex resealing mechanisms. 

But there is more to consider than even this, says Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum…  

“It is not only people with physical disabilities who can experience barriers. Inaccessible packaging can also present problems for people with neurodiverse conditions. For people with dyslexia, the language used or the layout of text or text on the packaging may be challenging. For people with autism, the familiarity is often important, so a sudden change or redesign of packaging – even for a favourite product – can make that product inaccessible.” 

She mentions Britvic as a good example of a brand that has looked to meet the needs of neurodiverse consumers in the design of the new sports cap on its Fruit Shoot bottles, launched early in 2024. Britvic had moved from a coloured to a clear bottle in 2021 and this had proven difficult for some children with neurodiverse conditions who found the sudden change and unfamiliarity of the packing difficult to navigate. This time, Britvic worked with the National Autistic Society to create an easily recognisable product and to help customers anticipate the change.  

Key paths to packaging accessibility  

When it comes to developing solutions to these challenges, the most successful have without doubt been those in which the brand has worked with the disabled community right from the outset and at every design stage. 

“We are definitely not at the point yet where all brands are working with disabled people from the outset when developing their products and packaging but the good news is that things are moving in the right direction,” says Diane. “Two-thirds (65%) of disabled consumers that we asked felt that the businesses they used are starting to recognise the importance of accessible and inclusive products and services.”’ 

The articles goes on to discuss innovations and products which are helping to make packaging more accessible to disabled people.  Packaging Europe subscribers can read the article in full on the Packaging Europe website.  

How has your brand made its packaging more accessible and inclusive? Nominate your organisation for the Disability Smart Inclusive Product Design Award 2025 and share your story.