<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<TITLE>Message</TITLE>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 9.00.8112.16437"></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><SPAN class=645541506-22102011><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>While
this may be the first "Whole Foods" store to offer braille, it is not the first
supermarket to offer braille. When I lived in the Cincinnati Area (at least
ten years ago now), a new Kroger store opened in an area that has a lot of blind
people and it was labeled in braille.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=645541506-22102011><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=645541506-22102011><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>I am
curious about the name tags being in braille. It could be helpful for a
deaf-blind individual to have the person place the name tag in that person's
hand so they would know who was helping them, but I certainly wouldn't want to
encourage blind people in general to feel up the sighted person to find out
their name. Personally, I would think it rude if that person did not introduce
themselves.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=645541506-22102011><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=645541506-22102011><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial>Cindy</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
dir=ltr>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> nfbk-bounces@nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbk-bounces@nfbnet.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Scott
Spaulding<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, October 21, 2011 9:46 AM<BR><B>To:</B> NFB
of Kentucky Internet Mailing List<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Nfbk] Fwd: [napub] FW:
Food Store offers Signs in braille<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR>Sent from my iPod</DIV>
<DIV><BR>Begin forwarded message:<BR><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
<DIV><B>From:</B> "Andrews, David B (DEED)" <<A
href="mailto:David.B.Andrews@state.mn.us">David.B.Andrews@state.mn.us</A>><BR><B>Date:</B>
October 21, 2011 9:29:11 AM EDT<BR><B>To:</B> "blind-cooks@nfbnet.org,"
<<A
href="mailto:napub@nfbnet.org">napub@nfbnet.org</A>><BR><B>Subject:</B>
<B>[napub] FW: Food Store offers Signs in braille</B><BR><B>Reply-To:</B>
NFBnet National Association to Promote the Use of Braille Mailing List
<<A
href="mailto:napub@nfbnet.org">napub@nfbnet.org</A>><BR><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
<DIV><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>________________________________</SPAN><BR><SPAN>From:
Instructional Resource Centers for the Blind & Visually Impaired <<A
href="mailto:IRCBVI@LISTSERV.STATE.SD.US">IRCBVI@LISTSERV.STATE.SD.US</A>></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Sent:
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 6:39 AM</SPAN><BR><SPAN>To: <A
href="mailto:IRCBVI@LISTSERV.STATE.SD.US">IRCBVI@LISTSERV.STATE.SD.US</A>
<<A
href="mailto:IRCBVI@LISTSERV.STATE.SD.US">IRCBVI@LISTSERV.STATE.SD.US</A>></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Subject:
Food Store offers Signs in braille</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Foods
store offers signs in Braille to help blind shoppers - The Boston
Globe</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Small touches make things
clear</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Joshua Goldenberg, 7, with help from
his father, Evan Goldenberg, and Kimberly Ballard, of the National Braille
Press, added Braille labels to fruit
at</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Whole Foods in Newtonville
yesterday.</SPAN><BR><SPAN>By Johnny
Diaz</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Globe Staff / October 15,
2011</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>NEWTON - The shoppers descended on the
produce aisle, but instead of reaching out for the fresh papayas and melons,
they grazed their fingers over small</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>labels
at the bottom of the display cabinets that told them about each
product.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The shoppers were blind or
visually impaired, and they were at the Whole Foods in Newtonville trying
out the first food labels in Braille at a supermarket</SPAN><BR><SPAN>on the
East Coast; many said they found the experience
liberating.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>“It’s a sense of freedom, to be
able to make your own choice,’’ said Joe Quintanilla, one of the shoppers.
“Sometimes, I feel guilty having someone read me everything that is there on
a label.’’</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The labels are the brainchild of
a blind first-grader from California, Joshua Goldenberg, who, with the help
of his parents, lobbied Whole Foods to make its Thousand Oaks store the
first in the country to deploy product signs in
Braille.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>He was in Newtonville yesterday to
participate as Whole Foods brought the Braille labels to
Massachusetts.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Goldenberg’s journey began
with a simple question. Shopping for batteries with his mother earlier this
year, 7-year-old Joshua asked her why there were not signs in Braille for
him and other blind shoppers.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>“We didn’t
have answer,’’ the boy’s father, Evan, said
yesterday.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The family reached out to Whole
Foods, which responded enthusiastically to Joshua’s
request.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>“We wanted to do it for Josh to
make a difference in his life,’’ said Ashley Eaton, a marketing supervisor
for Whole Foods in Thousand Oaks.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Whole
Foods launched a Braille Independence Initiative and chose the Newtonville
location as its next installation because of the store’s closeness to
the</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Perkins School for the Blind in
Watertown and the Carroll Center for the Blind in
Newton.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The grocery store chain is working
on the project with the National Braille Press, a nonprofit publisher of
children’s books, textbooks, and tests in
Braille.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Yesterday, representatives from
the Perkins School and the Carroll Center tested out the Braille labels.
Several said they were happy to be able to
read</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>on their own without the help of a
friend or employee.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>“Having things labeled
will be helpful,’’ said Kim Charlson as she roamed the store’s aisles with
her seeing eye-dog, Dolly, a small German shepherd.
Charlson</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>said that she often has to ask for
help at the Newtonville store, where she shops
weekly.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>She does not, for example, know
what is behind the deli counter unless she asks. And with produce, “you can
touch it and feel it, but you are not
always</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>sure. Who knew there are 14
different kinds of peppers? Knowing the specifics is not something I can do
right now.’’</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The rectangular Braille labels
are about the size of a Band-Aid strip. For now, the Newtonville store is
only putting them in the produce section, and so far they provide limited
information. They do not, for example, list prices or much detail beyond the
name or a basic description. However some labels, such as those for leeks
and spinach, will distinguish between organic and nonorganic
produce.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>“We are designing as we go,’’ said
Terri Petrunyak, marketing and community relations leader for Whole Foods in
Newtonville.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The store is working with the
Perkins School and the Carroll Center to help spread the word about what is
in Braille and what isn’t at the store to potential
customers.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>She said the chain is
considering what other stores could be part of the program, but there is not
a timeline yet. The company is also looking into
creating</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>a map of the store in
Braille.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>The Thousand Oaks Whole Foods
store’s produce section features small rectangular chalkboards that include
Braille labels.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Frozen foods and dairy
areas also have Braille stickers on doors and cases that tell shoppers, for
example, where the milk section begins and ends. Store employees’ name tags
are in Braille.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Advocates for the visually
impaired said the labels help give people a sense of
independence.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>“It’s great accessibility for
the blind,’’ said Joseph Abely, president of the Carroll Center. “It allows
them to lead independent lives.’’</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>Johnny
Diaz can be reached at</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN><A
href="mailto:jodiaz@globe.com">jodiaz@globe.com</A><<A
href="mailto:jodiaz@globe.com">mailto:jodiaz@globe.com</A>>.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>©
Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper
Company.</SPAN><BR><SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN>_______________________________________________</SPAN><BR><SPAN>napub
mailing list</SPAN><BR><SPAN><A
href="mailto:napub@nfbnet.org">napub@nfbnet.org</A></SPAN><BR><SPAN><A
href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/napub_nfbnet.org">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/napub_nfbnet.org</A></SPAN><BR><SPAN>To
unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
napub:</SPAN><BR><SPAN><A
href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/napub_nfbnet.org/spaulding.scott%40gmail.com">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/napub_nfbnet.org/spaulding.scott%40gmail.com</A></SPAN><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>