Stores check out ways to help the blind go shopping

A BASKET left in a supermarket aisle or a hard-to-find checkout are just minor annoyances for most shoppers.

But they can turn shopping into a nightmare for thousands of blind and partially-sighted people in Edinburgh.

Today major city retailers have teamed up with the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland to launch a campaign to make shopping easier. They pledged to take action after three volunteers with sight loss recorded their difficulties shopping and travelling in the city centre.

Jenners, Sainsbury's, John Lewis, Morrisons and Asda are due to take part in the training event today, with Edinburgh City Council and First buses. It is being opened by Lord Provost George Grubb. They have agreed to look at ways they can make shopping and travelling more accessible.

A survey by the RNIB found 78 per cent of blind and visually impaired people reported problems with obstacles in shops, while almost all found getting product information difficult. Only a few shops, including the Co-op and the Body Shop, print labels in Braille.

Ken Reid, 50, a freelance consultant from North Berwick, is one of the volunteers promoting the campaign. He was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease, 25 years ago and is now registered blind.

He said: "Shopping isn't retail therapy for me – it's retail trauma. Some shops do well by accident, but others do dreadfully. There are all sorts of things that make shopping difficult, from getting through the doors to obstacles such as baskets left around.

"The first thing I look for is staff but they can be hard to find. Till points can also be hidden away and chip and pin machines can be difficult to use."

He said he would like to see more training for staff and a greater awareness of problems.

He added: "I've heard of visually-impaired people being asked to leave by security staff, because they were peering closely at labels and their behaviour looked suspicious."

Fazilet Hadi, RNIB's group director for inclusive society, said: "We need to work together towards more practical solutions for people living with disabilities. This doesn't necessarily have to mean elaborate or expensive changes.

"For example, 84 per cent of people said their shopping experience would be improved if the shop assistant would just read out the bill total to them, and nearly all would like staff to repeat the amount of money given to them and to count out the change."