Situation: Realizing that one in four American adults has a disability and all people will experience changes to their physical or mental health at some time, the Entrant is working to extend disability inclusion and accessibility in its stores, nationally and globally.

Brief: The Entrant has partnered with the visual interpreting company to bring on-demand access to visual information to its customers from the blind and low vision community. In any physical environment, there exist points of exclusion for blind and low vision customers; by offering this service, the Entrant has demonstrated their commitment to removing these barriers so all customers can enjoy a ‘like’ in-store experience.

Objectives: Create more accessible physical and digital experiences through new inclusive design standards. “This inspires and motivates us to make our store and digital environments even more inclusive and accessible at every turn,” says a SVP at the company.

The Entrant has committed to designing, testing and scaling more inclusive in-store design standards and experiences, starting in the U.S. and then expanding globally to meet elevated standards of accessibility by 2030.

By providing the visual interpreting service in their stores, the Entrant is opening new vistas of independence for blind and low vision customers nationally. The service is used to assist with social distancing while in line, help navigate the physical store, read the evolving menu, find a seat, explore retail items at the purchase counter, place an order, pick up an order and check out, enabling a like in-store experience for all.

The company also offers multiple formats of its menu including large-print and Braille menus in all stores in the U.S./Canada, and globally, operates 11 Signing Stores at its locations that provide a space for the Deaf and hard of hearing community to connect through sign language.

Target audience: Individuals who are blind or have low vision. There are 22 million blind and low vision people in the U.S., and 2.2 billion globally, according to the World Health Organization.

Approach: For blind and low vision customers, provide 'always on' scalable assistive technology to remove barriers to visual information in-store. Customers use the back camera and an app on a smartphone to connect with a professional, trained agent who will assist by visually interpreting the surroundings, from describing to reading, from explaining to navigating – just about anything, safely and securely while in the Entrant's stores.

Using geofencing technology, the visual interpreting company identifies each of the Entrants stores and provides service starting at a perimeter surrounding the store. Customers receive a notification on their smartphone when they are within the geofence and can then call a live agent to assist with navigating to the door and then within the store.

While the Entrant tracks utilization of the visual interpreting service, the initiative is about operationalizing inclusion in their stores.

”The approach of [the Entrant Company] in allowing visual access to their stores, has really been a strong catalyst for me in choosing their store over another.”

”Instead of having to try to remember what’s on the menu, I can be like every other customer with the same number of choices.”

”I want to give a big shout out to [Entrant]. Thank you for believing in equality and inclusion.”

The Entrant is committed to an inclusive in-store customer experience, providing visual interpreting service signals this commitment and enhances independence for blind and low vision customers.