Open a Braille menu business
The idea of this business is to offer Braille menus, which include the price list of their food and drinks to make it easier for blind people to be self-sufficient, to thousands of restaurants with the Braille system for the blind that was created in the 19th century by the Frenchman Louis Braille who became blind due to an accident during his childhood. Providing solutions with this affordable document for any restaurant.
Guide to the types of businesses related to services
The reason for offering this business idea is the opportunity for restaurants and food centers to approach and attract new customers through this interaction experience for people with visual impairment.
The idea is to offer the design and translation of accessible menus that can make the customer feel comfortable and welcome. Another principle on which this business idea can be based is efficiency, since servers can offer a menu, instead of reading it out loud, save time and can concentrate on providing the service your business has.
Keyword: braille menu, offer braille service
The Braille accessible menu service will fill more seats with satisfied customers, promoting compliance, to reduce the risk of legal action with ADA regulations.
This law for the operation of commercial establishments requires restaurants, lodging establishments and Type B commercial establishments (bars, canteens, movie theaters) to provide a menu in Braille system, with the price list of their food and beverages to make it easier for blind people to be self-employed when ordering.
What are the costs of the Braille menu printing business?
You need to invest in a Perkins machine for writing Braille with the six keys corresponding to the six dots of the code, as well as the space bar, and a special printer. Also, the cost of the plastic coating on the menu should be included in the business plan for this idea to avoid deterioration.
Likewise, if you are going to expand the offer to catalogs, manuals, legal and medical documents, prescription books, business cards, directories and others, you must estimate the costs involved in editing, preparing, printing and assembling them. Likewise, you should think about the cost you are going to estimate to your clients for the making of each one of these documents.
Requirements to start in Restaurants in Braille system
There are very few restaurants in Spain that offer the possibility of consulting their menu in Braille, the tactile reading and writing system designed for blind people) to diners who require it.
Blind people in almost all countries do not have the support of Braille restaurants to order their menus, generally, they must do it with the support of a person who can see. This is despite the fact that the laws of many countries require this system to be on restaurant menus.
If you open a restaurant with Braille and include blind people as a priority, it’s a great idea that can represent significant profits.
One of the requirements would be to include staff who are blind or visually impaired, because first the social function would be fulfilled and then the restaurant would receive enormous publicity.
The restaurant should have the menu in Braille as well as the traditional system and if possible an innovative voice system for both menu presentation and selection.
There is a state regulation and another regional one, which include and emphasize the duty to solve the barriers that still exist for the blind collective, and despite the fact that these recommendations are rarely followed in the field of visual disability, in the case of a restaurant for the blind it must be fully complied with.
Advantages of having a restaurant in Braille system
Having a restaurant business in Braille system is an advantage because it attracts an important sector of the population that has this need, so it would have a large portfolio of customers, who can make the business sustainable over time.
Success stories of Restaurants in Braille System
In Zurich, Switzerland, there is the famous Blindekuh, with a blind staff, a half-lit room and a waiting list for four-month bookings, which was the pioneer. It was followed by the Unsicht-Bar, with a similar concept, in Berlin. Later, in Argentina, an NGO applied the same idea in Gallito Ciego, a restaurant-workshop that operates in Beccar. And in Toronto, Canada, the O’Noir was inaugurated, with the same characteristics.
This type of often uses blind people for care and even for work in the kitchen. Blind or visually impaired people are a good choice to work in this business because they are people who have a very developed ability to go through darkness and avoid obstacles.
Problems that can occur when starting this business
One of the problems in this business is the lack of adherence to Braille regulations among gastronomic establishments. It is believed that this is due to the fact that visually impaired people may not be aware of the regulations and therefore do not demand compliance. Another reason is that the control mechanisms may be insufficient and it should also be assessed whether the inspectors are aware of the existence of this ordinance.
Recommendations for success
Finding a Braille menu in a restaurant to support the autonomy of the visually impaired is almost an odyssey. But it shouldn’t be if you know that there are already regulations in force in some countries and regions that make it mandatory to display menus in Braille and in macro-type in gastronomic establishments such as bars, restaurants, confectioneries, pizzerias, snack bars and tea rooms. Therefore, opening a braille menu printing business is a profitable business idea.