CVS enhances access for visually impaired
WOONSOCKET, R.I. CVS/pharmacy announced that it is implementing functional improvements to benefit its customers with visual impairments and other disabilities. The Company has installed tactile keypads in all CVS/pharmacy stores and it will enhance its Web site in 2009.
The announcement is the result of a collaboration between CVS/pharmacy, 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 and online that will increase access for our visually impaired customers," said Helena Foulkes, EVP and CMO of CVS/pharmacy Caremark.
CVS/pharmacy’s point-of-sales improvements are designed to assist customers who cannot read information on a flat screen point-of-sale device and therefore cannot privately enter their PIN or other confidential information. All CVS/pharmacy stores have been equipped with a tactile device at both the front check-out counter and the pharmacy counter to ensure that customers unable to use a flat screen keypad do not have to provide their PIN to a store employee. The company is also training its store employees to provide appropriate interaction with visually impaired customers regarding the use of the new tactile devices.
"Without tactile keys, blind and visually impaired people have no choice but to share their PINs with strangers," explained Melanie Brunson, executive director of the American Council of the Blind. "Today's announcement, and the collaboration that led to it, demonstrates CVS/pharmacy’s ongoing commitment to its blind and visually impaired customers."
"An accessible Web site is crucial if people with vision loss are to obtain goods, services and information on an equal footing," said Paul Schroeder, vice president, programs and policy group of the American Foundation for the Blind. "We appreciate CVS/pharmacy's commitment to ensure that CVS.com is usable by the broadest range of online consumers, including those who have disabilities."