Self-checkout lines have been a significant convenience for many shoppers, but those who are blind or have low vision have faced barriers at the stations, despite the intent of making shopping more efficient. Now, Target wants to change that.
Steve Decker, Target's senior manager of accessibility, who is blind and knows this challenge first hand, decided to be part of the solution. He has a significant role in the team responsible for the company's rollout of the new accessible self-checkout, aimed at making the shopping experience more seamless and inclusive for customers like him.
"There's not a lot of accessible self-checkouts really in the country that we're aware of today," Decker told FOX Business. "And so it's a really unique solution. Often, you know, blind people, folks with low vision might have some assistance shopping, but the self-checkout portion is not something we've been able to do."
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By early 2026, all of its stores, thanks to input from the blind community, will be equipped with new self-checkout technology that will make Target’s existing self-checkout system more accessible.
The new checkout stations will have new features including braille, high-contrast button icons, a headphone jack with adjustable volume controls, physical navigation buttons and a dedicated info key, as well as a custom tactile controller co-developed by Target and Elo, a global technology company known for creating touchscreen solutions.
The company has integrated these features into self-checkout systems at over 100 stores since its pilot in May. By the end of the year, it will be in nearly all of its stores, with a few hundred getting equipped with the technology in early 2026, according to Decker, who called it an "aggressive rollout."
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Decker said it's important to recognize that there have been advancements in making the retail experience more accessible over the years, but this marks a first of its kind as people who are blind weren't just consulted, but they were actively involved in leadership and strategy, and helped shaped the vision for this experience.
"The result is a solution designed from the ground up with intentional choices that create more independence and dignity in the shopping experience," Decker said.
Decker said they even worked alongside the National Federation of the Blind, which helped them develop and eventually test the solution this past summer. The National Federation of the Blind is described as the largest and most influential membership organization of people who are blind, according to the National Institute of Health.
Being a part of the change has felt "really empowering," said Decker.
"Certainly it's so much bigger than me. It really feels wonderful to be a part of something that's so much bigger that yourself, though, and to impact the community that I'm a part of as the blind community," he said.
The American Foundation for the Blind cited estimates from the 2023 National Health Interview Survey that 51.9 million Americans who were at least 18 years old reported experiencing some amount of difficulty with their vision. About 3.7 million of them reported having "a lot of trouble seeing" even when wearing glasses. Over 300,000 said they couldn't see at all.
Decker said someone who is blind or has low vision will plug in a set of wired headphones into the adaptive controller that Target built in-house.
"The controller acts like a tactile keypad with volume up and down buttons. Directional arrows and then a center button to make selections, as well as a dedicated info button and a back button to escape out of things," Decker said. "All of that drives a screen reader, which is just software that reads what's on the screen through audio prompts."
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Decker said shoppers will have audio prompts throughout the process, including when to scan items, how to select their payment method and how to pay. The experience, he noted, mirrors the way he navigates his computer, phone, and Apple Watch.
Before this rollout, Decker explained he would find himself going through the regular checkout lane. In other cases, he found himself avoiding shopping in-store entirely because it wasn't always an easy experience, and not an easy pill to swallow for someone who enjoys their independence.
"Ultimately, we all ask for help sometimes from family members, from employees and so forth. But I personally love to be as independent as I can be," Decker said, adding that he does a lot of the shopping for his family and enjoys sharing the experience with his three daughters, one of whom also has low vision and will benefit from the new system as well.
"For me, it's really powerful to be able to use the same tools that everybody has to shop in all the same ways that everybody does," he added.
