David, who is 20 and was born blind, heads out for a date with Mom, first taking our new Beagle puppy, ArnieTheBeagle, to the vet, then off to Michael’s, then for some Chinese food, and then to Dairy Queen for some soft serve ice cream.
The Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine was totally inaccessible for the blind and visually impaired. The “wheelchair” option was also selected, with no apparent accommodation.
Coca-Cola Refreshments was sued a few years ago by a blind man, Emmett Magee, over the machines, and the courts have held that the ADA (Americans for Disabilities Act) only applies to “brick and mortar establishments” and not “non-physical establishments”, such as vending machines, websites, and non-traditional venues. So, for now, Coca-Cola is off-the-hook, but they should do the right thing and make their machines more accessible to those with disabilities including the blind and visually impaired.
Braille has been on ATMs (even drive-up ATMs!) since 1991 when they were made accessible so that the blind could access them from the back seat of a taxicab!
David was adopted from China when he was 5 years old.
Our new Beagle puppy, Arnie, has his own YouTube channel, so you can watch videos about him specifically. You can subscribe to the ArnieTheBeagle YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6kBwAWLLDEv5FTxvz2xVJA?sub_confirmation=1