[Blindtlk] Fwd: restaurant of the future excludes the blind

Sun Mar 26 00:51:16 UTC 2017

I wonder if any efforts were made by the organizations involved in this 
class action suit to actually deal with management/owners on an 
administrative level first.  I hope this is successful, certainly but you 
would be surprised at how ignorant businesses often are about these kinds of 
laws.  Just as an aside, I don't think I would ever eat at such a restaurant 
even if it were completely accessible.  It just sounds way too impersonal 
and it sounds like they are trying to do things on the cheap because they 
are too stingy to hire wait staff and cashiers.  And let's face it, a 
vibrant city like New York has plenty of choices for restaurants, from 
McDonalds to diners, to expensive steak houses, to ethnic restaurants.  If 
they are going to discriminate like this, and refuse to change their ways, 
word gets around and there's enough competition in New York City that 
hopefully this place will be driven out of business.  Sorry to sound so 
harsh, but I feel very strongly about that.

Mark Tardif
Nuclear arms will not hold you.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Ericka via blindtlk
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2017 7:29 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Ericka
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fwd: restaurant of the future excludes the blind

I am grateful to the organizations getting the early jump on this 
restaurant. Well it's not here in the Midwest yet, if it's successful other 
places will follow. Never mind those soda machines in Burger King.

Ericka
from my iPhone 6s

> On Mar 25, 2017, at 3:46 PM, Danielle Ledet via blindtlk 
> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Bob Branco <branco182 at verizon.net>
> Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2017 18:56:04 -0400
> Subject: restaurant of the future excludes the blind
> To: Bob Branco <branco182 at verizon.net>
>
> http://acb.org/PR-Eatsa
> <http://mandrillapp.com/track/click/30489975/acb.org?p=eyJzIjoibHJLWFA3U2FTTW1BcklXZ3ZHM2hxVlBSNWYwIiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDQ4OTk3NSxcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwOlxcXC9cXFwvYWNiLm9yZ1xcXC9QUi1FYXRzYVwiLFwiaWRcIjpcIjIwNWI5ZWY5OGQ3NTQ2ZDk5NzFiOGZmNTA3MTk3OGMwXCIsXCJ1cmxfaWRzXCI6W1wiY2ZhM2Q2OWVlYWNhYzA5NWQxNWNhYTgyMzYxMDZhMDc2MzExZjBhN1wiXX0ifQ>
>
>
>
> New York, NY—Eatsa, a chain of eateries touted as the “restaurant of
> the future,” has arrived in New York City with two Manhattan
> locations.  Yet its high-tech ordering and food pick-up process has
> failed to include existing, readily available usability features for
> blind and low vision people, in violation of civil rights law.
> Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a national nonprofit legal center,
> filed a class action federal lawsuit today with plaintiffs the
> American Council of the Blind and Michael Godino, a New York resident
> who is legally blind and cannot access Eatsa independently,
> representing the class.
>
>
>
> Eatsa employs no waiters or cashiers. Instead, patrons order their
> Eatsa meals through a phone app or at one of a number of in-store
> ordering kiosks. These kiosks consist of Apple iPad devices mounted
> and framed on a stand. When the food is ready, the customer’s name
> appears on a screen along with a number.  The number directs the
> customer to a cubby where they can retrieve their food.  The entire
> process is silent.
>
>
>
> While tablets can easily provide assistive technology that make text
> accessible to blind and low vision users with a few taps, these kiosks
> do not. Strikingly, the audio jacks and home buttons required for
> accessible options are covered by a frame and no tactile features
> exist on the kiosks.  Moreover, Eatsa’s phone app is also incompatible
> with screen reader technology and the food pickup process has no
> audible or tactile cues. While Eatsa’s kiosks contain an option to
> request assistance from an employee, this feature, like every other
> feature on the kiosk, is inaccessible to blind customers.
>
>
>
> Eatsa is a growing national chain that has received national attention
> for revolutionizing automated, self-service technology in the food
> industry.  It was recently founded by San Francisco branding
> executives Scott Drummond and Tim Young, and funded by David
> Friedberg, a former Google and Monsanto Executive, who sold his
> farming insurance startup for $1 billion dollars in 2013.
>
>
>
> “Sophisticated business titans should be well-versed in laws related
> to accessibility prior to launching new business ventures,” stated
> Michelle Caiola, Director of Litigation at DRA’s New York Office. “The
> Americans with Disabilities Act’s purpose is to ensure equal and
> independent access for all, including those who are blind, and it has
> been the law of the land for decades.”
>
> Plaintiff Michael Godino, a New Yorker who is legally blind and has
> low vision, was recently unable to access Eatsa without sighted
> assistance. “It’s frustrating because the technology to make the app
> and iPads accessible already exists,” he explained, “Eatsa just did
> not care enough to include this technology in their design.”
>
>
>
> Kim Charlson, President of the American Council of the Blind, said:
> “Technology has had a major positive impact on improving the inclusion
> of blind people. Eatsa’s concept is all about the power of technology,
> but the company did not think to take the added steps to make it
> accessible for its blind customers.”
>
>
>
> The federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York seeks
> an injunction against Eatsa’s further discrimination of persons with
> disabilities and a comprehensive plan to provide blind patrons
> independent access to Eatsa restaurants.
>
>
>
> A copy of the Complaint is available at
> http://dralegal.org/press/eatsa-restaurant-future-excludes-blind-customers/
> <http://mandrillapp.com/track/click/30489975/dralegal.org?p=eyJzIjoiODc0bTd2MGktenFjOHhEQXVlSzMtM0F3ZkswIiwidiI6MSwicCI6IntcInVcIjozMDQ4OTk3NSxcInZcIjoxLFwidXJsXCI6XCJodHRwOlxcXC9cXFwvZHJhbGVnYWwub3JnXFxcL3ByZXNzXFxcL2VhdHNhLXJlc3RhdXJhbnQtZnV0dXJlLWV4Y2x1ZGVzLWJsaW5kLWN1c3RvbWVyc1xcXC9cIixcImlkXCI6XCIyMDViOWVmOThkNzU0NmQ5OTcxYjhmZjUwNzE5NzhjMFwiLFwidXJsX2lkc1wiOltcImY2OThkODhmMjlhNTMzMmU2NzA0NGE3N2ZlNDZkNzdjZjg5OTg0YmRcIl19In0>
>
>
>
> About Disability Rights Advocates
> Founded in 1993, Disability Rights
> Advocates (DRA) is the leading national nonprofit disability rights
> legal center.  Its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity
> for people with all types of disabilities nationwide.  DRA represents
> people with the full spectrum of disabilities in complex,
> system-changing, class action cases.  Thanks to DRA’s
> precedent-setting work, people with disabilities across the country
> have dramatically improved access to health care, employment,
> transportation, education, disaster preparedness planning, voting and
> housing.  For more information, visit www.dralegal.org
> <file:///\\drafile1\Cases\Investigations\Diabetes%20Army\Media\www.dralegal.org>
> .
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
> compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and
> tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will
> have been all of these.
> George Washington Carver
> Email: singingmywayin at gmail.com
>
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