Last month, as part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Sodexo partnered with Disability Services to bring braille menus to several dining locations in the Culp Center, including Steak ‘n Shake, Mein Bowl and Boar’s Head.
“Prior to the renovation of the Culp, one of the then-SGA senators asked in general about braille at the retail eating establishments,” said Mary Little, the director of Disability Services. “Now that we are back in the Culp with braille signage throughout and with new restaurants on the first floor, it was a perfect time to revisit the idea.”
Matthew Gilbert, Disability Services’s accessibility coordinator, and Pam Lively and Hallie Sealey, department graduate assistants, worked together to create these versions of the menu.
“Offering braille menus is just one piece of enhancing accessibility and therefore the usability of the Culp for students, staff and visitors to ETSU,” Little said. “Students, staff and visitors with disabilities should have equal opportunity as their peers without disabilities to independently review dining choices.”
These menus are in individual binders behind the service counters and can be accessed by request. Little hopes that braille menus will be added for both on-campus Chick-fil-a and Subway locations when approval is given.
Little mentioned that she welcomed student input and would love to continue to collaborate with Sodexo.
For more information on making campus more accessible, contact Mary Little at littleme@etsu.edu.
