St Austell invests in braille menus

St Austell Brewery is introducing menus in braille in its pubs and hotels to help blind and partially sighted customers to order food and drinks.

The innovative plan will allow the company to attract some of the two million people in the UK that the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) report as having sight problems.

St Austell is working with South West-based braille transcription company Golden Chord to produce braille menus for the brewery's 30 managed houses.

"As a Cornish family business we're working hard to make all of our pubs welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all our customers," said St Austell's head of marketing Jeremy Mitchell.

"As well as having menus in braille, all of our staff are trained to assist blind and partially sighted diners by reading out menus, including the specials board, if that's what customers would prefer."

Welcoming the initiative, RNIB campaigner Julianne Marriott said: "We work to remove the barriers to everyday information that limit the independence of blind and partially sighted people, and braille menus are a great example of how businesses can help achieve this."

Braille user, Zoe Weller, who tried out the new menus at the Norway Inn, in Perranarworthal, near Truro, in Cornwall, said: "I was very impressed with this menu. It was very well laid out, and food items were very easy to locate.

"It's great to be able to visit a restaurant and read the same material as my sighted friends, as it puts me on an equal footing with them."

So far, 17 of St Austell's sites have launched the braille menus, while the remaining managed houses will introduce them in the coming months.