Wegmans Enhances Pharmacy Access to Sensory-Impaired Shoppers

To ensure that all of its shoppers receive quality customer service, regional grocer Wegmans Food Markets Inc. has introduced enhanced in-store pharmacy auxiliary aids and accessibility options for customers with sensory disabilities, including people who are deaf or hard of hearing and/or those with visual impairments.

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Those aids and accessibility options include:

• Video remote interpretation services in American Sign Language (ASL);
• Video Relay Service (VRS) for the pharmacy to make and receive calls with customers using a customer’s video phone;
• Inductive hearing loops at one release-to-patient register/pharmacy payment checkout and one counseling area in each in-store pharmacy;
• Large-print prescription labels and counseling documentation;
• Telephone Relay Service (TRS) and text telephone technology to make and receive calls with customers;
• Aira.io app service that provides live, real-time visual information and descriptions by professional assistants for blind or low-vision individuals;
• Informational materials, including a pharmacy accessibility checklist containing a description of accessibility options for customers;
• Website information dedicated to listing these accessibility features; and
• A pilot program at five New York Wegmans in-store pharmacies in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, offering ScripTalk audible prescription bottle/container identification labels.

“At Wegmans, we are committed to providing incredible customer service to all our shoppers,” said Linda Lovejoy, community relations manager for Wegmans. “Implementation of these in-store pharmacy auxiliary aids and accessibility options for customers with sensory disabilities helps us deliver on this commitment, giving our Deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind and low-vision customers industry-leading, enhanced access to effective communication at our in-store pharmacy locations.”

According to the J.D. Power "2022 U.S. Pharmacy Study," Wegmans ranked second among brick-and-mortar supermarket pharmacies, with a score of 754. The study was based on responses from 12,142 pharmacy customers who filled a prescription within 12 months, and was fielded from September 2021 through May 2022.

Family-owned Wegmans operates more than 100 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and Massachusetts. The Rochester-based company is No. 34 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Wegmans a Top Regional for 2023.