Blind Business Owner Creates QR Codes For Menus

A Devon business owner is hoping to make ordering at restaurants and cafés easier for blind people using QR codes.

Brandon Hulcoop – who has been blind since birth – set up his All Things Dotty business in 2023 to make Braille menus for venues across the UK.

The 23-year-old from Plymouth’s latest development is the creation of QR codes which can give blind or visually-impaired diners an audio version of an eatery’s menu so they do not have to rely on others to read out the options.

Mr Hulcoop has also launched a petition to ask the government to introduce legislation which would require all hospitality venues to have accessible menus.

The QR codes are embossed with Braille, so visually-impaired customers can feel where the code is, scan it with their phone and listen to the menu at their leisure.

Mr Hulcoop said, in his experience, most visually impaired people – especially the younger generation – preferred to use technology.

He added: “By scanning a QR code, it opens the restaurant up to a whole new world of people.”

Mr Hulcoop said when he asked some restaurant owners why they did not provide Braille or audio menus, their response was they do not think there was the demand.

“My question to restaurants and cafes is how do you know whether you get a visually-impaired customer,” he said.

“Not everybody uses a long cane or a guide dog, and people don’t ask for an accessible menu because, let’s face it, very, very few people had accessible menus available.”

The Boathouse restaurant in Plymouth, which already offers customers Braille menus, is one of the first eateries to use a QR code.

General manager George Ford said: “I would say someone being visually-impaired or hearing-impaired is no different to having an allergen.

“We should always cater for it and make everyone feel as normal as possible.

“If you are visually-impaired and you are coming to a venue without a Braille menu or a large-print menu, you probably feel quite isolated.”