New Inclusively Designed* Watch for the Blind and Visually Impaired

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100 watches donated to school for the blind in Thailand-


Tell the time by touch -an watch for everybody, starting with the blind and visually impaired

•Mar 9, 2020

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CITIZEN WATCH

CITIZEN announces a watch for the blind and visually impaired, designed with the philosophy of inclusive-design. This watch was developed with the help of the students and staff of the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi in Thailand. It tells time by touch.

To celebrate the launch of this product, Citizen Watch will donate one hundred of the watches to the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi in 2020, and continue to support the school even after 2020.


March 09, 2020

New Inclusively Designed* Watch for the Blind and Visually Impaired
-100 watches to be donated to a school for the blind in Thailand-


Citizen is launching a new watch model that can be used by anyone, including blind and visually impaired people, at the beginning of March. This new product was planned and developed together with a variety of potential users, based on the principles of inclusive design. Citizen will donate 100 of these new watches to a school for the blind and visually impaired in Thailand.

* Inclusive Design is the process by which a diverse range of users is involved in determining the design and/or functions of a product or service from the initial planning and development stages. The inclusion of users outside the conventional target market allows the product to be used by as many people as possible, regardless of economic, physical, or other factors.

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[Development]

Citizen produced the first made-in-Japan watch for blind and visually impaired people back in 1960, the Citizen Shine, based on our corporate philosophy, “Loved by citizens, working for citizens.” Production of these watches has continued for the last 60 years. Now in 2020, Citizen is continuing its efforts to create a better society, including initiatives to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aimed to create a watch that can be used by anyone – sighted people, blind people, and visually impaired people. All of these potential users were involved in the planning and development phases for this new product as part of our inclusive design approach. This new watch is now ready for release.
“I want my watch to be fashionable, just like watches sighted people wear.”
“I want a watch that doesn’t look like it was designed for blind or visually impaired people.”

* Comments from interviews at the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi​

Design elements and practical aspects of this product were refined based on interviews with staff and students at the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi in Lopburi Province, Thailand.

[Product Features]

The product is designed to be easy-to-use for everyone, including sighted, blind, and visually impaired people. Designers adopted an inclusive design approach, incorporating the views of a range of potential users from the planning and development stages.

1.Easy-to-Read

The watch features a black dial with yellow numerals, making it easy to read for visually impaired people. The placement of the tactile features as well as the shape of the hour and minute hands were designed based on the suggestions of blind and visually impaired people to improve ease of reading.

2.Designed to Match Any Style

The simple design of the lid (glass cover) and the matte finish of the tactile watch dial minimize the appearance of fingerprints and tactile features. The matte finish, combined with the clean and contemporary font used for the numbers, allows this watch to match any style of clothing.
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Inclusively Designed Watch for the Blind and Visually Impaired
AC2200-55E
Early March 2020
USD 140.00 + applicable tax
Stainless steel / Stainless steel
Crystal glass
Black
34.9 mm / 7.5 mm
Battery
Cal. 6029 / Accuracy of ±20 sec per month / Not waterproof
Braille Instruction Manual, Audio CD Instruction Manual

[Citizen’s Contributions for a Better Society]

In 1967, Citizen donated 215 Citizen Shine watches for the blind and visually impaired, driven by its belief that world peace can only be achieved through the strong cooperation of both governments and private companies. Citizen Shine watches were sent to blind and visually impaired people in 29 countries including Thailand, Mexico, and Argentina via the United Nations. In 1975, Citizen donated approximately 5,000 Citizen Shine watches to students studying at high schools for the blind and visually impaired in Japan. The company’s efforts to create a better society have continued unabated, including a donation of 3,000 watches to the National Association for the Blind in India in 1990.

Now to celebrate the launch of our latest 2020-model Inclusively Designed Watch for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Citizen will donate 100 watches to the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi, As a token of our gratitude for their cooperation in developing this new watch, every student graduating from the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi will receive this new watch as a gift.

[Previous Models]

Past models developed by Citizen for the blind and visually impaired:

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1960

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1967

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1984

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2014

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<About CITIZEN WATCH>

CITIZEN WATCH is a true manufacture d'horlogerie with a comprehensive manufacturing process that extends from creating a watch’s individual components to its final assembly. The company operates in more than 140 countries and regions around the world. Since its founding in 1918, CITIZEN has held the belief of “Better Starts Now” — that is, no matter who you are and what you do, it is always possible to make something better, and now is the time to start doing it. Based this belief, we have created watches, invented and improved technologies and explored the future of watches such as our proprietary light-powered Eco-Drive technology and state-of-the-art satellite-synchronized timekeeping.
  • * All information contained within this News Release is accurate as of 4 February 2020. The product design, price, launch date, specifications, and other information may be subject to change.
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We wanted to create an inclusive watch for everybody, starting with the blind and visually impaired.

This watch, designed with the philosophy of inclusive-design*, was developed with the help of the students and staff of the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi in Thailand. It tells time by touch.

*Inclusive-design is about creating products that can be used by a wide diversity of people, whatever their needs or disabilities. This is achieved by incorporating input from excluded minority groups into the product development process.

PRODUCT

Traditionally, most watches for the blind or visually impaired suffered from the same two problems: their design was inferior to other watches, and they were immediately identifiable as watches for a very specific demographic.
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    A watch that works for everyone


    Our goal was to design a watch that everyone, visually impaired or not, could use and enjoy equally. Fusing CITIZEN’s creativity and technology with precious input from the blind and visually impaired, we developed a model that combines high-level design and high-level usability.
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    Enhanced legibility. Instant time-telling


    The markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are raised, while the point of the hour hand is shaped like an arrow to make telling the time by touch easy. To make the dial more readable for people who are vision impaired rather than blind, the dial is high contrast, with yellow indices against a black background.
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    Casual, stylish, discreet. A watch for every occasion


    The case has a sleek hairline finish, while a casual font is used for the indices. The glass cover and the dial—the most frequently touched parts of the watch—have a matte finish to minimise fingerprints and deemphasize the tactile elements.
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    The result is a design that looks good regardless of your gender, outfit, or of the occasion.
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    A watch of durability and functionality


    Over the lifetime of the watch, the glass cover will be repeatedly opened and closed. That is why we put it through rigorous testing.
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    The length of the band and the position of the buckle are easy to modify, guaranteeing that the watch stays snug on the wrist and does not fall off.
AC2200-55E

Projected release dateMarch 2020Suggested retail price$140 + applicable taxesCase/BandStainless steelGlassCrystal glassDial colourBlackCase diameter34.9㎜ / 7.5㎜Key functionsCal. 6029 / ±20 seconds per month / Non-water resistant
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There are some markets where the product is not available.

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STORY

Designing a watch for everyone, visually impaired or not
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    Because the mission of the Citizen Watch Company is to make watches that people everywhere will love, we always do our best to make our products from the customer perspective. When we started work on the development of a new watch for blind and visually impaired people, the first question for us was “What kind of watch do people really need?” It was our commitment to answering this question that eventually led to the partnership with the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi in Thailand.
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    What greeted our team on their visits to the school was the same sight you would see in any school: students busy enjoying school life. The team members made repeated visits to the school to gather the opinions of students and staff.
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    The blind want a dial that is highly ‘readable’ to the touch; the vision impaired want strong and highly visible colours. So far, so obvious. The students and teachers had a clear message beyond that. “We want a watch that doesn’t look different from a normal watch,” they told us. “We want you to make us a watch that we can enjoy as a fashion item.”
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    Talking watches are common in the vision-impaired arena. The problem they have is that the simple action of bringing them up to your ear attracts unwanted attention. The lack of variety in designs and the fact that watches for the blind or visually impaired are instantly identifiable as such were also areas of concern.
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    As we talked to the students and staff at the school, the direction we needed to take gradually started to become clear. What the blind and visually impaired really want is a watch that works for, and looks good, on everyone. That is the thinking behind this watch. Our goal was to stick to the principles of inclusive design and create a product that would provide the same fun and convenience of wearing a watch to all, with absolutely no exceptions.
ABOUT CITIZEN

Founded in 1918, CITIZEN has spent more than a century making watches that address the needs of its customers. The company released Japan’s first-ever watch for the blind and visually impaired in 1960 and has continued to produce new models in response to changing times and consumer needs. Underpinning all CITIZEN’s efforts is a commitment to provide as many people as possible around the world with better timepieces.

Making watches that will be loved by people everywhere is CITIZEN’s mission and making inclusive timepieces is part of that.
 
Thanks for posting this up, Mike.:hat:
 
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