The accessible pregnancy test for people who experience sight loss

Image credit: Sky News

For many, the moment when you find out you’re pregnant is filled with excitement, anticipation, nerves and a whole range of other emotions. It is a very intimate and personal moment, when you know will be the first person to find out whether you are expecting a baby. Some people choose to keep this moment to themselves and some choose to share it. But that is a choice that many of us take for granted. For anyone who is blind and partially sighted, this moment can never be a private one because they are unable to read the result themselves.

Currently there are an estimated 2 million people in the UK with sight loss. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has commissioned an exciting new “game changer” prototype to try and make pregnancy tests more accessible. The only pregnancy tests that are available at the moment provide results that must be seen to be understood. Some show lines or words that show up on an electronic screen.

Independent designer, Josh Wasserman, reimagined the ‘traditional’ pregnancy test as part of the RNIB’s campaign ‘Design For Everyone’. The campaigns is aimed at breaking down barriers that limit people’s privacy due to inaccessibility. Through research into the needs of those who are blind and partially sighted, Josh created a test that uses bumps which you can feel appear when the result is positive. 
 

Unfortunately, it could be a while before the prototype becomes a product available to everyone. But the RNIB charity has stated that it is in talks with a pregnancy tests supplier around introducing a more accessible design to its range.