NIBIB’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Tech Program Issues Best Practices for the Design of Accessible COVID-19 Home Test Kits
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) Tech program has released Best Practices for the Design of Accessible COVID-19 Home Tests, a document with recommendations for developers and manufacturers of diagnostic tech to make at-home COVID-19 test kits accessible to people with disabilities. The document covers topics on accessible packaging and instructions of test kits, including general readability and layout, graphics and images, language, organization and identification of contents, and digital design, such as modality, assistive technology compatibility, and user interface features.
The document is part of RADx Tech’s program to work with collaborators to modify or develop over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests that can be used by all users, including older adults and people who are blind or have low vision, or who have limited or no hand dexterity. RADx Tech experts created the document by holding a listening session and gathering information from end-users, developers, and disability advocacy groups and foundations. While the goal of the document is to provide recommendations for making at-home COVID-19 diagnostic kits accessible to people with disabilities, many of the recommendations will improve the usability of test kits in general. More information can be found on the RADx® Tech Accessible At-Home COVID-19 Tests webpage.
Hosted on the U.S. Access Board’s website, the RADx Tech’s Best Practices for the Design of Accessible COVID-19 Home Tests is an abridged version that primarily covers packaging and instructions. A more complete version of the best practices is scheduled to be available in the first half of 2023.