Popular body wash ThinkSkin in Braille packaging, a World Braille Day gift from Future Group

Popular body wash ThinkSkin is now available in Braille packaging. Taking its accessibility measures a step further, Future Group launched Braille packs of ThinkSkin on the occasion of World Braille Day.

Over the last year, Future Group has launched a number of accessibility initiatives across some of its stores. All part of what Ashni BIyani, Managing Director, Future Consumer described as the company’s commitment to “putting the consumer first.”

We are a consumer first company and we develop all our products from a perspective of empathy for the customer. We have seen visually impaired customers struggle to choose the right product and this is the first step towards addressing that gap. – Ashni Biyani, Managing Director, Future Consumer

Also present at the launch was Ajay Reddy, Captain of the Indian blind cricket team, which is on a high after a series of decisive wins in international-level series. Reddy, who is also the brand ambassador of the newly packaged ThinkSkin said he was happy that the needs of the blind community were finally being taken note of by top brands.

“It is hard for visually impaired people to identify products at malls, so this Braille packaging is a welcome step. We will not have to ask people to help us find what we want. Practically speaking as well, it is needed because there are so many products in the bathroom that it becomes difficult to identify what we want. This will take that problem away. I encourage people to buy this product and promote the idea of inclusion”.

Future Group says it has many such initiatives in the pipeline and that ThinkSkin is just a taste of things to come. The company has a large team of employees with disabilities who are closely involved in mapping each such initiative. “Our disabled employees are the first consumer group through which we understand the challenges of the community,” said Biyani. “We want to speak to people across disability types and we have started with visually impaired people because India has the largest population in the world.”

Not just Future Group, many leading companies are looking at accessibility in a big way and this is an encouraging sign. Last year, ITC launched Braille enabled packs of its leading hygiene product, Savlon Antiseptic liquid.

All good signs, and will hopefully lead to a day when accessibility is no longer an afterthought but something that is planned for from the very start.