Best Buy adds tactile keypads to improve checkout for visually impaired

Minneapolis Best Buy Co. has begun a nationwide initiative to improve the checkout experience for Best Buy customers who are blind or visually impaired. The company has begun to add tactile keypads to point-of-sale devices at Best Buy stores, enabling shoppers who cannot read information on a touch screen to privately and independently enter their personal identification number in order to protect their financial privacy.

Keys on the device resemble a standard telephone keypad and work in conjunction with Best Buy’s point-of-sale terminals. All Best Buy stores in California already have the new devices, as do many other stores across the chain. Keypads will be installed in all Best Buy stores nationwide by Sept. 30.

The announcement was praised by the American Foundation for the Blind, American Council of the Blind, and California Council of the Blind.

“We are pleased to collaborate with organizations committed to advocacy for the blind and introduce service enhancements in our stores that will improve the experience for Best Buy’s visually impaired customers,” said Barry Judge, Best Buy executive VP and chief marketing officer.