Not everyone can scan a QR code. Some people have no camera app at hand, some cannot see the code well enough to aim at it, and some cannot see it at all. Three things in the design studio help, and a few placement habits help more.

Keep the short link under the code

When you apply a template to an editable code, its Second line is filled with the code's short link, so a person who cannot scan can type it instead. The line is on by default for print templates.

  • To leave it out, clear Second line in the frame settings. The rest of the template stays the same.
  • The size of the line is set for you: it gets its own band, half as tall as the caption band, and grows with the code. Print the code at the width the print check recommends or larger and the link is readable too.
  • The second line holds up to 60 characters. A short link fits; a long web address may not, which is one more reason to print the short one.

Choose a high-contrast template

In Templates, tick High contrast only to see the high-contrast set. These templates use a dark code on a light background with strong contrast and print the call to action in bold, which helps people with low vision find and read the code. The print check still applies: below a contrast ratio of 3 it fails, and 4.5 or more is advised.

Place the code so it can be found by touch

A QR code is flat ink, so a person who cannot see it needs another way to find it. These habits help:

  • Put the code in the same place every time, for example at the same height on every door, table or shelf, so people learn where to look.
  • Add a tactile cue next to the code, never on it: a raised dot, a notch in the edge of the card, or a Braille label that says what the code opens. Keep the cue outside the quiet zone, the margin of four squares around the code.
  • Do not emboss, raise or laminate the code itself unevenly. Bumps and glare change the pattern a camera reads.
  • Use a flat, matt surface. Curved bottles, shiny menus and glass in front of the code make it harder to scan for everyone.
  • Place it where a phone can be held steadily, at hand or eye height, not at floor level or above a door.
  • If you add Braille, put the short link or a clear description next to it, so a person who reads Braille does not need the code at all.

Check it before printing many

Print one copy at the real size and ask someone to find the code by touch and open it, ideally a person who uses a screen reader. Then scan it with two different phones in the light where it will hang.