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Blind people appreciate when sighted add Braille
By Rick Armon Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Nov 24, 2007
When Alan Brightman hands out his business card, people sometimes do a double take.
His name is on there. So is his phone number and title as senior policy director for special communities at Yahoo Inc. in California.
But there also are bumps all over it. Or indentations, depending on the side.
The card is far from flawed, though. It's embossed with Braille.
''It almost always generates a 30-second to a five-minute conversation about why accessibility matters,'' said Brightman, who is not blind. ''For me, it's designed to increase awareness.''
The number of people using business cards embossed with Braille is rising, fueled both by an increase in the number of blind people in the work force, and by sighted people giving the
cards to other sighted people, according to advocates for the blind and companies that help produce them. One New York company says sales are up 10 percent in the past two years.
Business professionals who are not blind are giving the cards to sighted clients and associates as a way to promote diversity, start conversations or simply make their card stand out.
''What we find is that adding Braille to a business card makes a very profound statement without saying a word,'' said Deborah Webster, owner of Access-USA in Clayton, N.Y. ''It shows that whoever is using the card is inclusive.''
Her clients include workers at PepsiCo America, Procter & Gamble, Ohio State University, Intel, Big Apple Greeter, Easter Seals, the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission and Summit County.
County Executive Russ Pry has used the cards since stealing the idea from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, a member of the Congressional Vision Caucus.
''It's another way that government can reach out to people who have a hard time being in touch with the government,'' Pry said.
Business cards — which first appeared in 17th century France — remain a vital part of networking and gathering contact information, said Bill Hauser, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Akron and associate director of the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing.
A business card begins the process of building a relationship, he said. But he questioned whether Braille is really necessary if the card isn't being handed to someone who's blind.
Support for idea
Blind people say otherwise.
''I think it's absolutely wonderful,'' said Marilyn Donehey, 61, of Akron, who learned Braille about five years ago. ''It shows that you're trying to accommodate all people and want to treat people equally.''
Barbara Pierce, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, said she appreciates that sighted people are handing the cards to sighted people because it raises awareness about Braille.
''Anytime you put Braille under the fingers of a sighted person, you catch their attention,'' she said. ''From our standpoint, we are very eager for the whole community to recognize Braille as a necessary communication skill for blind people, like everyone recognizes sign language for the deaf community.''
Pierce, 62, of Oberlin, also said she appreciates being handed a business card in Braille ''because suddenly that business card means to me what it means to everyone else.''
Printers say orders up
Access-USA, which provides Braille services for a variety of products, has seen business-card orders jump 10 percent in the past two years, Webster said. She estimated that the company has thousands of business-card customers, many of whom have no connection to blind people.
The company will put Braille on 500 cards for $69.95.
The American Printing House for the Blind Inc. in Louisville, Ky., sells personalized stampers that allow people to place Braille on their own cards, and the company also has seen an increase in orders, said Gary Mudd, vice president for public affairs. The cost is about $100.
He also believes the reasons involve the novelty of a Braille card and a desire to be seen as accessible to those with disabilities, even though the percentage of people who read Braille is small. Only an estimated 10 percent of blind people understand Braille.
Nationwide, 7 million to 10 million people are blind or visually impaired, according to a mid-1990s study by the National Center for Health Statistics.
''Most people won't need the Braille, but you never know who will until you run across them,'' said Eileen Curran, vice president for programs and education at the National Braille Press in Boston.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
When Alan Brightman hands out his business card, people sometimes do a double take.
Get the full article here.
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