Equal Opportunity Pizza Ordering
by Rudy Vener
October 15, 2007
Frustration is the inability to order a pizza.
It was a frustration I used to share with other deaf people in the Pre-Internet Era. Back then, I couldn't use the phone, except with a TTY. This was a text terminal device which could only be used to communicate with another TTY.
Needless to say, my local pizza shop did not have one of these devices. If I wanted a pizza delivered, I would go to the pizza shop, order the pizza in person, wait for it to bake, and bring it home myself.
Deaf pizza ordering advanced a small step when relay services appeared on the scene. I would call the relay service, they would call the pizza shop and then translate between my TTY and the pizza shop's order taker. The relay operator would speak whatever I typed and type whatever the pizza shop spoke.
If this sounds slow and cumbersome, believe me, it doesn't even begin to convey the sheer tediousness of the process. A relay call could easily take ten times as long as a similar voice call.
Because of this, pizza shops would often hang up on relay calls. When this happened to me, I would ask the relay operator to call right back and try again. The pizza shops were annoyed because their phone was being tied up. I was annoyed because the shop was hanging up on me. And while the relay operators were far too professional to display annoyance, I doubt that they were deriving any great joy from the situation.
Enter Online Ordering.
I still recall my excitement when I first read that Papa John's would let you order a pizza over the Internet. Suddenly the world was a brighter and happier place. Now I would be able to place orders with the same ease as hearing people. Or at least I could if I only ordered from one of the big 3 pizza chains.
Sadly, my favorite neighborhood pizza shop still did not have online ordering. This lack was one of the main reasons I eventually started Pizza Galaxy. but that's another story.
Deaf people are not the only handicapped population to benefit from online ordering.
Blind customers have their own restaurant delivery issues. How are they going to read a takeout menu?
Unless you provide one in braille or cassette tape, they aren't. Instead they will stick to memorized selections or ask for menu details over the phone.
On the other hand, blind computer users can easily access your online order menu with their PC's access technology. This lets them order from your full menu, including new offers and specials.
Not only does online ordering give blind and deaf customers easy access to your menu and delivery services, but it eliminates those lengthy phone calls and saves you time and money.
When you make your restaurant more handicapped accessible, you earn the good will of the entire community. In these days of heightened ADA awareness, that's the kind of public relations you want.
There was a famous cartoon in the New Yorker several years ago. It showed two dogs at a computer monitor and keyboard. The caption read, "On the Internet no one knows you're a dog."
How very true. Your online ordering system can level the playing field for deaf, blind and other customers in your neighborhood as well.
Online ordering solves a problem for your customers, for you, and lets you reap the rewards that come from being an active and concerned member of your local community.
But the most amazing part of all is that online ordering was never aimed specifically at handicapped customers. First and foremost it is a convenience to your community's Internet connected population. Handicapped accessibility comes for free.
And who can beat free?
