# this seems really cool! check it out

Category: Daily Living

## Post 1 by ocean blue (what you see! is what you get!) on Saturday, 14-Jul-2007 18:26:40

Talking website eyes fashion for the blind
Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:38PM EDT
ROME (Reuters Life!) - Two American students are launching a new talking Web
site that helps blind people pick and buy trendy clothing that is fitted with
braille tags and then sent to their doorstep.
The sound-activated
www.whitecanelabel.com
Web site, due to go online in the fall, will ask users what their fashion likes
and dislikes are and recommend clothes ranging from casual to evening wear based
on those preferences.
A braille tag that includes the designer's name, type of clothing such as a
"blouse" or a "t-shirt", size, color and symbols to help in piecing together
certain look like "business casual" is attached to the clothes ordered and then
mailed out.
"The central point is to give blind and visually impaired people more
independence in choosing their clothing," co-founder Asmah Abushagur said during
Rome's summer fashion week where the initiative was launched.
"If someone wants say, a black business suit, then we can help them put that together."
The Rochester Institute of Technology students say they stumbled on the idea
after discovering the difficulties blind people have in picking an outfit to
wear and having to rely on family and friends for it.
So far, the main methods used are metal tags or attaching different numbers of
clothes pins or slits to outfits to indicate various colors.
"It started off as a school project, you know, how can I get an 'A'?" said
co-founder Jaimen Brill. "But then we saw the options blind people have."
Though the venture is a non-profit effort and is asking designers to donate
clothes, the outfits will be sold at retail prices to prevent shoppers who are
not blind from using the Web site to take advantage of a good bargain.