Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for Templeman Opticians, www.templeman-opticians.com, seen on 7 April 2022, featured a drop-down menu, titled “Dyslexia Tests” which linked to web pages headed “The First Step To Help Your Teen Achieve their Full Potential”, “Dyslexia testing for adults near me”, “Dyslexia Test based in Essex, UK” and “Get your Dyslexia Glasses”.
The web pages relating to dyslexia tests for teens and adults included steps for booking a test under the heading “How does it work?”. Under “STEP 2 – YOUR DYSLEXIA TEST AT HOME”, text on both pages stated, “The client’s home is easily transformed into a consulting room, allowing our visiting Optometrist to perform a full and comprehensive dyslexia test at home”. Under “STEP 3 – IF YOU NEED NEW GLASSES WEVE [sic] GOT YOU”, both pages stated, “We are a team of dyslexia and dyspraxia experts specializing in assessment, training, and employment consultancy”.
The “Dyslexia Test based in Essex, UK” web page included similar information about steps for booking a test, under the heading “How does a dyslexia test work?”. Under “STEP 2 – YOUR DYSLEXIA APPOINTMENT”, text stated, “Your Dyslexia test will last around 60-90 minutes. One of the select numbers of opticians in the UK to have the latest technology in dyslexia test detection & identification”.
That web page also included a section headed “Dyslexia Colour Tests From The Experts in Essex”. Under the heading “How does it work?”, text stated, “STEP 1 – BOOKING YOUR DYSLEXIA COLOUR TEST Dyslexia Explained Dyslexia Visual Stress is a condition contributing to reading difficulties, eye strain and headaches when reading in many adults and children. The condition relates to light sensitivity in disorders such as dyslexia, migraine and epilepsy …”. Under the heading “Dyslexia Colour Test – Cost & Pricing”, text included, “We can use a colorimeter to find the optimal precision tint to relieve perceptual distortion if you have dyslexia, migraines or photosensitive epilepsy”.
A further section of that web page, headed “Frequently Asked Questions about Dyslexia Colour Tests” included the text “What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a reading impairment that can result from an abnormal developmental process. While dyslexia has its core in a disruption of language processing, some believe that it may be a visual disturbance”.
On a page titled “Get your Dyslexia Glasses”, under the heading “How does dyslexia affect vision?”, text included “While those with phonological dyslexia will struggle to repeat rhymes and sequences they have heard, visual dyslexia will impact how they see words and letters. Dyslexics will therefore put a lot of stress on their eyes trying to focus on what they are reading. As part of the diagnosis of dyslexia, it is important to rule out visual problems and to treat them where necessary”. Under the heading “Can you get glasses for dyslexia?”, text stated, “If the dyslexia is caused by, or made worse, by problems with vision then yes, glasses or contact lenses would help. For some people certain tints on glasses can also help make it easier to read – the colour and density of the tint will vary from person to person”.
Issue
The complainant was a specialist dyslexia teacher who understood that dyslexia was a learning difficulty and was not caused by visual difficulties, and that it could only be diagnosed by a certified assessor. They challenged whether the following were misleading and could be substantiated:
1. various claims on the website that dyslexia was caused by visual stress, including “While dyslexia has its core in a disruption of language processing, some believe that it may be a visual disturbance”, “If the dyslexia is caused by, or made worse, by problems with vision then yes, glasses or contact lenses would help”, and “Dyslexia Explained Dyslexia Visual Stress is a condition contributing to reading difficulties”; and
2. the claims regarding the advertised dyslexia testing service such as “our visiting Optometrist [will] perform a full and comprehensive dyslexia test” and “Dyslexia Colour Tests from the Experts”.
Response
1. & 2. Templeman Opticians said that to their knowledge all the information in their ad regarding colour testing and Visual Perception Disorder, which came under the term 'dyslexic testing', was correct. They also said the site made no misleading claims regarding colour testing of children, and they offered a 'home' visiting service, conducted with the parents present at the time of testing.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The Code required that before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers held documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers were likely to regard as objective and that were capable of objective substantiation.
The website featured various claims which suggested that visual stress caused or contributed to dyslexia, including “While dyslexia has its core in a disruption of language processing, some believe that it may be a visual disturbance”, and “If the dyslexia is caused by, or made worse, by problems with vision then yes, glasses or contact lenses would help”.
The ASA noted other claims were more ambiguous in distinguishing between dyslexia and visual stress, including “Visual stress can co-exist with dyslexia” and a section titled “Dyslexia Explained” stated “Visual Stress is a condition contributing to reading difficulties, eye strain and headaches when reading in many adults and children”. While some of the information was ambiguous and unclear, in the context of the various claims across the website, we considered that consumers would be likely to understand the information to mean that visual stress caused or partly caused dyslexia.
Templeman Opticians had not provided an explanation of the basis of the claims or any supporting evidence to demonstrate that dyslexia was caused by visual stress.
In the absence of adequate explanation or substantiation, the ASA considered the claims suggesting that visual stress caused dyslexia in the ad were likely to mislead, and were in breach of the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation).
2. Upheld
The website included many references to “Dyslexia tests”, with several pages directing consumers to book such tests for adults and children, with a view to Templeman Opticians providing “dyslexia glasses” with tinted lenses. The website included the claims “our visiting Optometrist [will] perform a full and comprehensive dyslexia test”, “We are a team of dyslexia and dyspraxia experts specializing in assessment …”, and “One of the select numbers of opticians in the UK to have the latest technology in dyslexia test detection & identification.”.
We considered consumers would be likely to interpret the claims to mean that Templeman Opticians provided tests that could formally diagnose dyslexia, and that they offered glasses that treated or reduced the impact of dyslexia.
We noted that dyslexia could only be formally diagnosed through assessment by a certified assessor, who was either a psychologist specialising in specific learning difficulties or a specialist teacher or assessor, as specified by the British Dyslexia Association and also the NHS. Furthermore, such tests usually assessed a person’s abilities in reading, writing and spelling, and underlying learning skills in phonological awareness, speed of processing and memory, speech and language and auditory processing.
Templeman Opticians had not provided a substantive response to that issue of the complaint. They had neither confirmed whether the practitioners who conducted the advertised tests were certified dyslexia assessors, nor clarified the details of what the tests using a “colorimeter” involved and how they assessed for dyslexia, or how the “dyslexia glasses” helped to treat the learning difficulty.
We had not been provided with adequate information and substantiation demonstrating that the “dyslexia tests” were carried out by certified assessors, or that the tests involved assessments of literacy abilities and learning skills such as phonological awareness and language processing. We therefore considered the claims suggesting that Templeman Opticians provided “a full and comprehensive dyslexia test” were misleading and breached the Code.
On that point the ad breached CAP Code rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising),
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation),
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification) and
12.1
12.1
Objective claims must be backed by evidence, if relevant consisting of trials conducted on people. Substantiation will be assessed on the basis of the available scientific knowledge.
Medicinal or medical claims and indications may be made for a medicinal product that is licensed by the MHRA, VMD or under the auspices of the EMA, or for a CE-marked medical device. A medicinal claim is a claim that a product or its constituent(s) can be used with a view to making a medical diagnosis or can treat or prevent disease, including an injury, ailment or adverse condition, whether of body or mind, in human beings.
Secondary medicinal claims made for cosmetic products as defined in the appropriate European legislation must be backed by evidence. These are limited to any preventative action of the product and may not include claims to treat disease.
(Medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Templeman Opticians that in future advertising they must not make claims that misleadingly suggested that visual stress caused dyslexia without adequate substantiation. We also told them they must ensure that future ads did not misleadingly imply they could formally test for and diagnose dyslexia.
