[NFBOK-Talk] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] Settlement

[Jeanie Massay]

FYI. It will be interesting to see if other chain restaurants come along as
well. 

 

From: NFBNet-Members-List [mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Braun, Beth via NFBNet-Members-List
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2017 8:19 PM
To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Settlement

 

 
The National Federation of the Blind has partnered with E la Carte
<http://www.elacarte.com/> , Inc., creators of the PrestoT Smart Dining
SystemT for full-service restaurants; the Applebee'sT restaurant franchise;
and LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired of San Francisco to
produce a text-to-speech capability for the Presto Smart Dining System that
will be incorporated into all current and future Presto-system tablets,
including those used in Applebee's restaurants. This partnership is a result
of negotiations that began last year among E la Carte, the Applebee's
franchise, and the National Federation of the Blind, the LightHouse for the
Blind and Visually Impaired of San Francisco, and several blind
Californians.
 
The new functionality enables blind persons to interact with the Presto
system to independently order menu items, pay their bills, and perform other
functions using a Presto-system tablet. By performing certain gestures,
blind patrons can turn on the text-to-speech capability of the tablets in
order to access the new functionality. In addition, blind patrons can take
advantage of the audio jack available on newer PrestoPrime EMV tablets to
activate the text-to-speech capability by simply plugging in a pair of
headphones. The audio jack on PrestoPrime tablets can be found and
identified by a Braille tactile label located next to the jack.
 
The National Federation of the Blind and LightHouse for the Blind and
Visually Impaired of San Francisco have been working with E la Carte and the
Applebee's franchise for several months to develop the new functionality,
which has been tested by blind consumers. This continued testing and the
related feedback will help E la Carte to fine-tune the implementation such
that it provides a user experience for blind consumers that is similar to
that of other mobile and small screen device applications and, as a result,
is familiar to them.
 
"Like many new technologies, the E la Carte system has the potential to
provide the blind with greater independence than ever before, since we will
now be able to access a restaurant's menu choices in the same way that other
customers do," said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of
the Blind. "We therefore applaud E la Carte in its efforts to provide to
blind diners the same access to the Presto system that sighted persons
enjoy, while also helping the restaurants who deploy the system comply with
the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable laws." 
 
The new accessibility functionality will be included as a standard part of
the Presto system and tablets and is available to all E la Carte customers.
 
 

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