Page 18 - ABILITY Magazine - Best Practices Employment

Marthalee Galeota
Laura Swapp
Partner Network with Deb Dagit
legally blind and wanted to take our support of literacy to a different level. Children and parents gather each month to enjoy the stories that the barista reads to them in Braille.
Cooper: Can you talk a little bit about how you approach accessibility for both consumer and partner when you build out a new retail store.
Galeota: In the US, we follow Americans With Disabili- ty Act guidelines. The aisles in the stores are sometimes an issue because things get moved and baskets of coffee beans are here and there, which makes it a little bit diffi- cult for people to come through who might be using wheelchairs or canes. So in training baristas, we high- light accessibility so that people realize they need to keep aisles clear.
There’s also a table that’s a bit oversized for people who use wheelchairs. It used to be a bit taller with a decal on it that said: For our disabled customers. But it stuck out like a sore thumb, so now it’s the same height as the rest of the furniture and blends in. The verbiage on it now reads, For customers with disabilities-using people-first language.
Cooper: Anything else?
Galeota: Also, the “hand-off plane”-where customers’ beverages and foods are placed-has been lowered in new stores. When it was higher, people of short stature or people in wheelchairs would have difficultly getting their drinks. Our drive-throughs are still a place where you order by talking into a little machine, and the barista inside hears you. But for people who are deaf, we put language on the drive-through menu board that welcomes them to go right up to the first window and order from there. They can write out what they want or communicate however they choose.
One of our corporate architects is very involved with the
Leed model. He’s on the board with the national group and is working to get more of a universal design, rather than just the (less stringent) ADA features that you have to follow. The Leed model is about building in a way that is environmentally friendly.
Cooper: Then you’re also looking at the products used and the energy demands?
Galeota: Right. It’s all of that: the energy, the lighting, how you take advantage of the sun or the way the store is oriented on the land that you have-all of that. That has already been built into the Leed model. What has- n’t been there is the more holistic, universal accessibil- ity features.
Cooper: In our Green Pages section, we write about how a healthier planet leads to healthier people, because a lot of what’s going on in the environment con- tributes to disabilities. Regarding recycling, have you looked at a program where people bring their cups back in and you recycle them?
Swapp: That’s something that’s handled on a market-by- market basis. A lot of municipalities don’t have the abil- ity to recycle on a commercial level. But we do back-of- the-house recycling in a majority of our stores, where space and facilities permit.
Galeota: Any other questions?
Cooper: Yes. Can I get a nonfat soy.... (laughter)
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