Disability-led e-commerce platform Adaptista is bridging the fashion divide, offering a range of carefully selected diverse fashion, beauty and lifestyle products.
The platform is tailored to offer options for both plus-sized and disabled people, representing the fashion-forward brands that drive an inclusive industry.
Adaptista was founded by a disability advocate Maria O Sullivan-Abeyratne, who has experienced firsthand the frustration of searching for new styles that also work with treatments or examinations.
During Maria’s wedding preparation, Maria struggled to find a wedding dress that could be put on with ease and not affect Maria’s arthritis which limits mobility and makes getting dressed extremely painful and uncomfortable causing muscle spasms. This led to the birth of Adaptista.
After researching the options within the industry, Maria expanded her search into the options for the disabled community as a whole, including people of short stature, those living with ostomy bags, feeding and breathing tubes, as well as those living with chronic illness and old age and the issues around shopping as a blind person.
Maria commented, “I was shocked at two things, the lack of availability with ease for the community, and the lack of support for the brands that currently exist.
“There should be no separation between disabled people and able-bodied people, we should all have the same access to beautiful clothes that make us feel empowered.”
Adaptista has taken this inclusive approach to its online store, launching Recite Me assistive technology online to support those with additional needs from searching for clothes all the way through to payment.
You can see the Recite Me toolbar in action on the Adaptista website. The customizable tools on offer include screen reading functionality, multiple reading aids, customizable styling options, and an on-demand live translation feature that boasts over 100 languages including 65 text-to-speech,
Maria stated, “Recite me offers a much more robust option for people with visual disabilities to navigate the site, and how amazing is the translating option! I also love that the voices used are friendly and less computerized than many of the other options available. I look forward to seeing all the amazing new developments you have in the coming years!”
For more information on Recite Me accessibility and language tools, contact a member of our team or book a real-time demonstration of our toolbar.
