From: Michael May [log in to unmask]

Rarely is something so exciting that I feel like leaping up from my 
chair
in the middle of a restaurant and shouting. My family is grateful for
that 
restraint. Instead, I’ll take a moment to share my excitement with
those of 
you who can appreciate my enthusiasm.

What percentage of restaurants do you think have braille menus? One out
of
a thousand perhaps? It is always such a treat when one gets a braille
menu 
even if the prices are outdated. How nice to have the same level of
access 
that print readers take for granted even if it is so rarely possible.

The good news is that having to hear a menu read really helps with 
one’s
memory development. Since there is no chance to peruse or have the
entire 
menu reread, blind folks know to latch on to an item or two that sound 
interesting and ignore the rest. This sure makes for speedy food
selection 
and keeps the memory finely tuned.

In the past 10 days, I have had the opportunity to be at 5 restaurants,
none of which had braille menus, all of which had lengthy interesting 
menus. How do I know they have interesting menus? Now this gets to the 
exciting part. It turns out that all these restaurants have their menus
on 
the web. I can get on the web site with my BrailleNote and download the

menu to review, along with my sighted friends, at the restaurant. This
is 
very cool.

Now, what happens when you are out with friends and pick a restaurant 
while
driving around or at the last moment? Not a problem. I can simply use
my 
cell phone with the BrailleNote to get on the restaurant web site right

there at the table.

All the big cell phone carriers are rolling out their 56k high-speed
wireless data services. I have signed up for the AT&T service, $18 per 
month for 6 MB of data communications. I got a Siemens S46 phone in
order 
to use this data service. This 56K service really makes using the web 
practical versus the old-style 14.4 slow data services people had.

I am really amazed that all these restaurants had their menus on their 
web
site. Some sites were harder to figure out than others but I managed. I

realize that my memory will now start to diminish since I can read and 
reread menus, being just as indecisive as my print-reading friends. In 
fact, it takes me forever to order and I savor every minute of the 
selection process. As my memory gets worse, my spelling ability will 
improve. There are some pretty interesting words on menus today. Check
out 
a few options from a gourmet vegetarian restaurant, Millennium.

Autumn Smoked Tempeh
~ peppercorn glazed smoked tempeh ~ apple, blackcurrant, & juniper 
berry
sauce ~ rosemary roasted Little Farms potatoes ~ sweet caramelized red
cabbage
~ apple & fennel salad.....17.25

Chanterelle Crescent
~ mushroom, chard, & potato ragout ~ phyllo pastry ~ sherried 
Chanterelle
Béchamel ~ sweet pepper coulis ~ farro, basil, & olive salad ~ braised
greens
~ truffle oil....19.95

There is an aspect of accessing these wireless menus, which is 
reminiscent
of comments from GPS location information skeptics. They would say,
“why do 
I need to know about 700,000 points of interest if I can just ask
somebody 
what is around?” The same question may arise with accessible menus:
They 
might ask, why bother with braille or wireless menus when a sighted
person 
can read it to you?

When there was no other option than a sighted reader that is one thing.
Information is knowledge, it is power. Now we have the option to get
GPS 
location information and web restaurant menus. I for one am thrilled to

enjoy this new independent information access with my BrailleNote.


Michael May
Blindness Products Manager
Pulse Data HumanWare
175 Mason Circle
Concord, CA 94520






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