The five cafes on Ohio University's campus now provide braille menus for the visually impaired.
The menus have been available since the end of October at The Front Room Coffeehouse, Café BiblioTech, South Side Espresso Bar, OU-HCOM SAF Café and Steam Station Café, OU Spokesman Dan Pittman said.
“The braille menus are available at all times,” Pittman said in an email. “In the short time period that the braille menus have been available, we have had several people ask to use them.”
The braille menus are available upon request, Kirsten Reed, a student worker at Front Room, said.
Campus Cafes General Manager Drew Banks worked with J.W. Smith, an associate professor within the School of Communication Studies, on providing accommodations for those living with disabilities. Culinary Services also partnered with Darrell Purdy, an assistant director for employee accessibility training and outreach, Pittman said.
There was minimal cost to create the menus as it was limited to the price of paper the menus were printed on, Pittman said.
“Culinary Services partnered with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion and Alden Library's Adaptive Equipment Lab,” Pittman said in an email. “Alden Library provided the paper and translation hardware, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion provided the knowledge and checked the accuracy of the braille, and Culinary Services provided the information to be translated.”
Chris Guder, the subject liaison for the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education, made the braille menus. Part of Guder’s job is to maintain the braille printer and other technology in the Shostack Adaptive Technology Room in Alden Library.
The braille machine can translate a Word Document using an associated software, Guder said.
“They sent me the word doc files, and I kicked ‘em out,” Guder said, referring to the braille menus.
Braille menus were something that could be implemented quickly, Pittman said.
“The feedback we have received has been very positive,” Pittman said in an email.
Though there has been a positive reaction, there has been no increase in sales.
“This was not done to drive sales, but rather as a way to improve the experience at the Campus Cafés for those living with disabilities at Ohio University and the Athens community,” Pittman said in an email.
