Annie's Burger Shack has never wanted anyone to feel left out, whether they're a meat eater, vegetarian or vegan, by providing alternatives for all. Now they've stepped it up a gear to make sure blind and partially sighted people aren't overlooked, by offering a menu in Braille. The newly-launched menu has been introduced at both the Nottingham and Derby restaurants. The Derby branch is based in Friary Street. Owner Anmarie Spaziano approached the charity My Sight Nottinghamshire to get the menu with 34 different burgers, such as the Johnny Vegas and the Sunday Dinner, transcribed. She said: "It's so exciting. Our main value of the company is about being inclusive and I never thought it could happen and it wasn't until I got in touch with My Sight and they said they could do it in Braille. "Considering how big our menu is it couldn't have been an easy task. There are quite a few pages.
“Everybody should be able to enjoy their experience
together and never feel excluded, ever.
"It would be quite nice to see other restaurants also do this. People who read Braille shouldn't have to depend on somebody to read the menu for them. "Even on our screens I make sure there's subtitles so people who can't hear can also be included with the videos we put on." For now it's just the main menu but there's plans to make Braille versions of the breakfast and drinks menus. My Sight spokeswoman Julie Scarle, a fan of Annie's restaurant in Broadway, said: "It's fantastic. I am registered blind and I'm a regular frequenter of Annie's because my daughter is vegetarian and her partner's vegan and they have such a fantastic choice there so we go quite often. "I'll definitely be using it when we go. "In a really noisy environment, with a menu as big and extensive as Annie's, it's quite difficult when someone is reading it to you and they're yelling over the table. "You're trying to hear and then you can't remember 'did that have guacamole with it?' You're asking them to read it again and the whole thing can take a good 40 minutes to order your food. "I will definitely be asking for the Braille menu. It's great not to have to ask people to do that for you on a night out. It's nice to be able to peruse at your own leisure and make your own choices. "It's fantastic she wants all of her customers to have a really positive experience when they go there." Few restaurants and cafes offer a Braille menu. Those that do include Cafe Sobar, in Friar Lane, Nottingham. Julie added: "We wish more businesses would do it. There are a few but definitely not as many as we would like. "We do offer large print because it's fair to say more visually impaired people access large print these days because sight loss tends to be a degenerative condition and it happens to most people as they get older and learning a whole new language and alphabet is quite challenging at that age. "It tends to be people like myself who lost their sight in childhood that read Braille so there's more who would rely on large print." (L- R) Sight loss advisor Donna Keane and marketing manager Julie Scarle, of My Sight Notts, pictured as they order from a new Braille menu at Annie's Burger Shack (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)
