Whenever I travel to a country whose language I do not speak, I get a sense of relief when at a restaurant I am given a menu in English. If not, it becomes a really frustrating experience having to depend on the waiter to tell me what’s on the menu. My frustration ends the moment I return home. But how about the blind people who have to deal with this frustration every time they go to a restaurant?

There’s no reason why they should feel deprived of the pleasure of choosing their own dish especially since Louis Braille devised the Braille system back in 1821. I may be mistaken, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t come across many, if any, restaurants with menus in Braille? Recently, Haim Katz, Member of Israel’s Knesset, proposed a bill stating that restaurant chains with five or more branches must have at least 2 Braille menus available.

The article in YNET mentioned that there are 25.000 blind people in Israel. I have to agree with MK Katz when he says that “the fact that most food chains don’t have Braille menus causes discomfort in the blinds’ visits to restaurants, since they become dependent on their escorts or, alternatively, on waiters to read the menus to them. Some would even prefer to give up this experience and avoid going to restaurants because of the discomfort”. Way to go Mr. Katz, but only chain restaurants? Come on Haim, there is only so much McDavids anyone can eat.

Related posts

• No related posts.