‘My Student Inspired Me To Spread Braille Message’

The founder of a braille and large print business said she hoped to make the Isle of Man a more “accessible and inclusive” place for people with visual impairments.

Natasha Molyneux-Smith spent years working at a secondary school with Evie Roberts, a 16-year-old Manx girl who is completely blind.

“Just because we only have a handful of braille users does not mean that we restrict their access to text,” explained Natasha.

Having started her company Dot and Type in September, Natasha has called on public venues and workplaces to offer more resources for visually impaired people.

She said thousands of people also travelled to the island for the TT Races, and the island had an opportunity to be a “flagship for accessibility if all of our menus were (also made available in) braille and large print”.

Evie, who was born with bilateral anophthalmia, said working with Natasha had resulted in the “first time I’ve ever seen a menu”, something she described as “an amazing experience”.

The teenager said it gave her added independence as well as taking away the responsibility from someone else to read the entire menu to her.

She explained: “For someone with sight when you go out for a meal, you just go into a restaurant and look at what you want to eat and you don’t think about it.

“I’ve never had that.”

Natasha said: “That really struck home to me. It made me realise this is why I’m doing my business.”

One of the first companies on the Isle of Man to introduce braille and large print menus is Just Pizza and Pasta in Douglas.

Owner Mitch Sorbie said he wanted to make sure no-one felt excluded.

He said he sometimes hosted groups from local charity Sight Matters.

“I’m looking forward to the first time they come in and we give them the menus… to see their facial expression of being included, I think that’ll be great,” he said.

It was the restaurant’s way of showing “someone else is thinking about them”, he added.