<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><h1 style="margin: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; "><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Starbucks to offer Braille gift cards year-round. </span></font></h1><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font></div><div><div class="text" style="margin-top: 9px; "><span class="authorLocation" style="font-weight: bold; float: left; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -</span></span><p xmlns="http://www.coremedia.com/2003/richtext-1.0" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Braille gift card will become a regular at the Starbucks registers, the company announced Wednesday.</span></p><p xmlns="http://www.coremedia.com/2003/richtext-1.0" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The card was introduced in September 2011, and has previously been available in limited runs. It will now be part of the chain's permanent gift card lineup.</span></p><p xmlns="http://www.coremedia.com/2003/richtext-1.0" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The card was originally introduced at the urging of disability advocates.</span></p><p xmlns="http://www.coremedia.com/2003/richtext-1.0" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Wednesday, Starbucks said it was asked to offer the card year-round by a mother who said her blind daughter appreciates the independence the card gives her.</span></p><p xmlns="http://www.coremedia.com/2003/richtext-1.0" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kim Charlson of the Braille Authority of North America said she was not aware of any other companies offering a Braille gift card.</span></p><p xmlns="http://www.coremedia.com/2003/richtext-1.0" style="margin: 0px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Seattle-based chain has been the subject of several disability-related lawsuits, including objections to the height of their counters and the stores' hospitality towards deaf individuals.</span></p></div><div class="detailShare" style="padding: 10px 0px; "><div class="fb-like fb_edge_widget_with_comment fb_iframe_widget" data-send="false" data-href="http://www.wlky.com/Starbucks-to-offer-Braille-gift-cards-year-round/-/9366718/22240060/-/gfijvi/-/index.html" data-layout="button_count" data-width="350" data-show-faces="true" data-action="recommend" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; "><span style="display: inline-block; position: relative; text-align: justify; height: 20px; width: 116px; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><font color="#333333" face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div></span></div></div></div></body></html>