The Ellington

Specially printed menus for the blind

6th February 2009, 11:04am

Luxury boutique hotel The Ellington in Leeds has teamed up with Shire View Centre for Visually Impaired People to transcribe its restaurant menus into Braille.

Shire View was appointed to provide an expert transcription service to the hotel via its Braille, Large Print and Audio Service to create specially printed restaurant menus in Braille. This makes The Ellington's dining experience accessible to all.

Sally Rouse, group marketing director at Pantin Hotels, said: "Our sales team initially made contact with Leeds Society for Deaf and Blind People and it was interesting to find out how many people in Leeds are visually impaired. We decided to increase accessibility to our potential visually impaired customers by providing the option to read our restaurant menus in Braille.

Michael Cooper, senior assistant at the Braille, Large Print and Audio Service at Shire View Centre for Visually Impaired People, continued: "We've really enjoyed working with The Ellington hotel. There are very few hotels and restaurants in the area that offer this facility and it is so important for blind people to maintain their independence. Now blind diners can read the menu themselves, instead of relying on other people.

"Businesses can have any of their materials transcribed into Braille or printed in larger fonts for those who are partially sighted. We can even transfer information onto audio facilities for customers to listen to, making it simple for businesses to appeal to the masses."

The Braille, Large Print and Audio Service is just one of the facilities that the Society can provide to businesses in the region. The Society also provides sensory awareness training to businesses to teach its employees how to overcome communication barriers with Deaf, hard of hearing and visually impaired people.

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