CVS announces it will improve its POS and enhance its Web site to aid customers with visual impairments and other disabilities. The company has installed tactile keypads in all CVS stores and plans to enhance its Web site by late 2009.

Point of Sale Improvements
CVS point of sales will assist customers who cannot read information on a flat screen point of sale device and therefore cannot privately enter their PIN or other confidential information. All CVS stores have been equipped, at a minimum, with a tactile device at both the front check-out counter and the pharmacy counter to ensure that customers unable to use a flat screen keypad do not have to provide their PIN to a store employee. The company also is training its store employees to provide appropriate interaction with visually impaired customers regarding the use of the new tactile devices.

Web Site Access
The CVS online pharmacy, www.cvs.com, is accessible to persons with a wide range of disabilities, including blind computer users who use a screen reader or magnification technology on their computers and those who rely on a keyboard instead of a mouse. CVS.com will implement these enhancements by the end of 2009.

CVS collaborated with the American Foundation for the Blind, American Council of the Blind and California Council of the Blind.

"We are pleased to collaborate with organizations committed to advocacy for the blind and introduce service enhancements in our stores and online that will increase access for our visually impaired customers," said Helena Foulkes, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, CVS Caremark.

NeoMedia Technologies and Mobile Tag announce a non-exclusive patent licensing agreement for machine readable mobile codes under NeoMedia's patent portfolio. NeoMedia's objective is to create an open and interoperable 2D barcoding ecosystem which will create brands, advertising agencies and mobile operators.

This licensing deal enables Mobile Tag to engage consumer brands, advertising agencies, mobile operators and the OEMs that supply them with NeoMedia's officially licensed U.S. patents. Both companies participated in the NeuStar sponsored interoperability pilot program at CTIA in March 2009.

NeoMedia and Mobile Tag are committed to establishing an open operating environment. Licensing arrangements like this are the foundation needed to unify the marketplace and create the scale needed for consumer brands to invest in mobile barcoding as a key advertising channel. Mobile Tag is the first company licensed to operate under NeoMedia's Intellectual Property for indirect mobile barcoding solutions.

Golfsmith redesigns and re-launches its e-commerce site www.golfsmith.com with a variety of new features and social marketing tools. Global navigation has been changed to highlight key product categories at the top of the site and to allow customers to mouse-over those categories to expose sub-categories, allowing them to find the products they want faster than before.

The home page and product pages have been improved to eliminate clutter and elevate features like Ratings & Reviews and 360-degree views on top products. Golfsmith has also added a new social marketing tool from Bazaarvoice called "Ask & Answer" that allows customers to ask questions to the user community, vendors and even Golfsmith product experts.

"Our Web site is not just the largest store in the company but it is the 24/7 face of our brand to the world," said Martin Hanaka, president and CEO of Golfsmith. "This new site launch leverages retail industry best practices in e-commerce and multi-channel retailing. We believe that the voice of the customer has more influence than ever before, and with our expanded user-generated content we are helping our customers make more informed purchasing decisions."