14 March 2023
Students at the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi, Thailand, receive CITIZEN tactile watches as a graduation gift
CITIZEN Watch donated tactile watches to the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi in Thailand at a ceremony held on 14 March. The tactile watches, specially designed for the blind and visually impaired, will be presented to 38 graduating students at 7 schools for the visually impaired in Thailand.
The donated tactile watches are 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. The current model was launched in 2020. Design elements and practical aspects of this model were refined based on interviews with staff and students at the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi. CITIZEN donated 100 tactile watches to the school in 2020 to celebrate the launch, and continues to provide support by donating watches to graduating students. This is the third consecutive year that CITIZEN has presented watches to graduates of the school.
The presentation ceremony on 14 March was attended by Mr. Takao Osada, President of ROYAL TIME CITI CO., LTD, a CITIZEN Group company in Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Mr. Osada was warmly welcomed by the smiles of teachers, staff, and students from the school. The school teaches students how to tell the time as part of its curriculum, and staff and students were delighted to receive the watches, saying they were comfortable to wear and extremely easy to use.
Presentation ceremony at the School for the Blind and the Blind with Multiple Handicaps Lopburi
CITIZEN’s tactile watch for the blind and visually impaired (AC2200-55E)
The different lengths of the hour and minute hands are designed to facilitate easy reading of the watch, with the tip of the hour hand placed on the inside of the circle of tactile dots on the dial, and the tip of the minute hand placed on the outside. The watch features a black dial with yellow numerals, making it easier to read for visually impaired people.
The dial, which is designed to be touched, has a matte finish to minimize the appearance of fingerprints and tactile features. The design, including the contemporary font used for the numbers, makes the watch ideal for work or casual wear.
CITIZEN’s Touch Time Watch for the visually impaired
Website
https://www.citizenwatch-global.com/touchtimewatch/index.html 
<About CITIZEN>
CITIZEN WATCH is a true manufacture d'horlogerie with the capabilities to carry out the entire watch manufacturing process in-house, from creating a watch’s individual components to its final assembly. The company operates in more than 140 countries 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. Sharing this belief, we have made watches, invented and improved technologies and explored the future of watches such as our proprietary light-powered Eco-Drive technology.