Our creativity instigated genuine societal change.

Due to inaccessible design blind women have no choice but to ask other people for assistance in reading their own pregnancy tests, robbing them of their privacy dignity and right to own their own information.

We knew it didn’t have to be this way and we weren’t taking no for an answer.

We highlighted the devastating implications of inaccessibility and proved that a solution was achievable, by creating the world's first accessible pregnancy test prototype. A powerful tool to generate the needed public pressure to force the healthcare industry to take notice.

RNIB are a charity set out to change perceptions and attitudes surrounding sight loss that negatively impact blind and partially sighted people, whilst driving tangible improvements that make their lives better.

One such area in desperate need of improvement is the lack of accessible design and information.

The world has not been designed for blind and partially sighted people who often have no choice but to ask other people for assistance, robbing them of their privacy, dignity and right to own their own information.

We needed to show the impact of inaccessible design and encourage change.

We needed a powerful example of inaccessible design that would make people sit up and take notice, like the pregnancy test.

Over 5 million pregnancy tests are sold in the UK each year, but not one is accessible for blind women, who need the help of another person to read them their results. Meaning their most private information is made public and they are never the first to know about their own bodies.

But an awareness campaign wasn’t enough. To drive real change we knew we needed to do something that the healthcare industry couldn’t ignore.

So to show the world that accessible design mattered and prove that it was possible, we created a prototype of the world’s first accessible pregnancy test.

We knew we needed to target two audiences, those who could make change happen - businesses and designers, and those who could encourage those businesses to act - the public.

This meant PR was essential to our campaign, we needed to create an inherently sharable story - like creating the world's first accessible pregnancy test - that could spark conversations and get the support of the public to apply the needed public pressure to those who could change things.

Our prototype of the first accessible pregnancy test allowed women to feel their results by touch. We replaced screens with a large tactile results pad that had used raised nodules to indicate a pregnancy, and a smaller tactile control area that was moved to the underside of the test for extra clarity.

With a bigger pad and chassis and ergonomic design, it was designed to be easier to navigate by touch. And it utilized bright colours in key areas for those with some vision.

We engaged mainstream media - who covered the story extensively despite a crowded Covid news-cycle - with separate press releases and spokespeople depending on the audience.

And, to demonstrate RNIB’s credibility as a partner and consultant in the accessible design process, we shared all of our research and results on our microsite, showing exactly how it could be done, and inspiring designers to step up.

Our campaign sparked conversations globally. We gained over 106 pieces of earned media - including primetime interview segments - with a 2.67 billion reader/viewership and we had a reach of 23.47 million on social media.

Together exposing the inequality that blind women face, by bringing the issue to the masses and inspiring future designers by landing the importance of inclusive design.

And most importantly, applying the needed public pressure to grab the attention of ClearBlue – the UK’s largest pregnancy test manufacturer – who are now in talks with RNIB about making an accessible test a reality.