[nfbmi-talk] food store offers signs in braille

[Robert Rehahn And Martin]

Its about time! I am going to send an email to Johnny about this and see how we can get our local grocery stores to iplement having braille labels in our local grocery stores.

----- Original Message -----
From: joe harcz Comcast <joeharcz at comcast.net>
To:  <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Saturday, Oct 15, 2011 08:54:02 AM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] food store offers signs in braille

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> Foods store offers signs in Braille to help blind shoppers — The Boston Globe
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> Small touches make things clear
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> Joshua Goldenberg, 7, with help from his father, Evan Goldenberg, and Kimberly Ballard, of the National Braille Press, added Braille labels to fruit at
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> Whole Foods in Newtonville yesterday. Joshua Goldenberg, 7, with help from his father, Evan Goldenberg, and Kimberly Ballard, of the National Braille Press,
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> added Braille labels to fruit at Whole Foods in Newtonville yesterday. (Photos by Michele McDonald for The Boston Globe)
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> By
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> Johnny Diaz
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> Globe Staff / October 15, 2011
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> 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
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> labels at the bottom of the display cabinets that told them about each product.
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> 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
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> on the East Coast; many said they found the experience liberating.
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> "It's a sense of freedom, to be able to make your own choice1'' said Joe Quintanilla, one of the shoppers. "Sometimes, I feel guilty having someone read
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> me everything that is there on a label.''
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> 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
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> its Thousand Oaks store the first in the country to deploy product signs in Braille.
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> He was in Newtonville yesterday to participate as Whole Foods brought the Braille labels to Massachusetts.
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> 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
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> not signs in Braille for him and other blind shoppers.
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> "We didn't have answer1'' the boy's father, Evan, said yesterday.
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> The family reached out to Whole Foods, which responded enthusiastically to Joshua's request.
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> "We wanted to do it for Josh to make a difference in his life1'' said Ashley Eaton, a marketing supervisor for Whole Foods in Thousand Oaks.
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> Whole Foods launched a Braille Independence Initiative and chose the Newtonville location as its next installation because of the store's closeness to the
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> Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown and the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton.
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> 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.
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> 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
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> on their own without the help of a friend or employee.
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> "Having things labeled will be helpful1'' said Kim Charlson as she roamed the store's aisles with her seeing eye-dog, Dolly, a small German shepherd. Charlson
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> said that she often has to ask for help at the Newtonville store, where she shops weekly.
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> 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
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> sure. Who knew there are 14 different kinds of peppers? Knowing the specifics is not something I can do right now.''
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> 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
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> 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,
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> such as those for leeks and spinach, will distinguish between organic and nonorganic produce.
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> "We are designing as we g1'' said Terri Petrunyak, marketing and community relations leader for Whole Foods in Newtonville.
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> 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
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> customers.
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> 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
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> a map of the store in Braille.
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> The Thousand Oaks Whole Foods store's produce section features small rectangular chalkboards that include Braille labels.
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> 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
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> employees' name tags are in Braille.
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> Advocates for the visually impaired said the labels help give people a sense of independence.
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> "It's great accessibility for the bl1'' said Joseph Abely, president of the Carroll Center. "It allows them to lead independent lives.''
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> Johnny Diaz can be reached at
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> jodiaz at globe.com.
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> © Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.
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> http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/10/15/foods_store_offers_signs_in_braille_to_help_blind_shoppers/
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