In focus: US spat hints at what’s to come for UK optics

Online vision testing has long been a doomsday scenario for opticians.

However, development of technology has been slow and the thought of consumers opening an app to get a prescription has always been that little bit too far off to worry about... in the UK at least.

Visibly, formerly known as Opternative, has been causing ripples in the US since its introduction in 2015, but its partnership with online retailer 1-800 Contacts made the news last week (Optician 26.04.19) after the American Optometric Association (AOA) appealed to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the use of the digital
technology because it could be ‘misleading patients’.