Independent living product review website to give disabled people more insight into helpful and unhelpful devices
Rate it! is a new product review website, which is written by and for disabled people, that allows them to share and read reviews about small- to medium-sized products which provide them with greater independence.
The aim of Rate it! is to build a community of readers, reviewers and commentators who are better informed about their choices when buying and using goods, giving them more insight into products that work and products that don’t.
Denise Stephens from Enabled by Design commented: “Through our experience and research, the Rate it! team has been aware of the importance of product reviews in supporting disabled people to make informed choices when buying products. Ninety per cent of respondents in Scope’s Extra Cost Commission 2015 report said reviews were a priority for them.
“Inspired by this, we’ve provided a high-quality online space where people can research, review and share knowledge about specialist and mainstream products, all in one place.”
Enabled by Design is a community of people who are passionate about Design for All and believe that good design can support people to live independently by helping make life easier.
The Rate it! project is run by the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC), the Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, and Enabled by Design. It’s also funded by the Big Lottery Fund through DRILL (Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning), the world’s first major research programme led by disabled people.
Additionally, every month, Rate it! is giving away a free prize and each review submitted is counted as a single entry to the prize draw. For October, the prize is for the Hive active system and three connected home products: lightbulbs, a motion sensor and a plug.
An independent charity with over 50 years’ experience, RiDC specialises in user-centred research involving disabled and older consumers.
The Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCiL) is a user-led organisation which works to support disabled people at a local, regional and national level to exercise choice and control for independent living.