Walmart provides mobile wayfinding service for vision-impaired shoppers
Walmart Inc. is partnering with a mobile app to help blind and low-vision customers better navigate its stores and e-commerce site.
The discount giant is in a new collaborative pilot with Aira, a mobile app that connects blind and low-vision consumers with sighted interpreters who communicate visual information in real time.
Using remote access to a phone camera or piece of wearable tech, Aira interpreters can visually guide customers through a store or the Walmart.com site. The professional visual interpreters Aira employs are trained to offer objective feedback, leaving the customer completely in control of their own choices.
The service is offered free at Walmart stores and on its e-commerce site, meaning users have no time limit as they ask questions about products or navigating their environment.
"The reality is, we have tons of shoppers with disabilities who we want to make sure are having as good, if not better, of a shopping experience with us as someone who doesn’t have a disability," said Gayatri Agnew, head of the Walmart Accessibility Center of Excellence.
Walmart has introduced a number of other programs to assist disabled customers. This includes rolling out "Caroline’s Carts" into all of its stores in 11 states. The carts are designed to help caregivers of children and adults with disabilities navigate the store more easily, and feature a seat with a capacity to hold 35 to 250 pounds.
[READ MORE: Walmart expands inclusive shopping with specialized shopping carts]
And in 2023, Walmart introduced sensory-friendly hours at its stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, and later Canada. These hours, from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. daily, provide a calmer environment in all Walmart stores by turning off the radio, setting TV monitors to a still screen, and dimming the lights where possible.
"I think the thing they’re going to gain the most from our partnership is this demonstration to the world that Walmart and Aira really do think about the customers they serve," said Everette Bacon, the chief of blindness initiatives at Aira, who is blind himself. "That’s a testament to the kind of service Walmart has provided for years and wants to continue to lead on."
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart serves approximately 255 million customers and members each week at more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
