Local engineer creates app to help visually impaired people order at restaurants

Ordering food off a menu can be challenging at times, especially for people with visual impairments or food allergies. But in a day and age when almost everything is easily accessible through our smart phones, a local engineer invented a new app allowing people who are blind to have a more enjoyable dining experience.

People who are visually impaired usually have to ask someone to read off menu items or ask for braille menus, which many restaurants don't have. To make the dining experience more enjoyable for those people, John Petrous created "Tappy Menu" and says it's the first of its kind.

"This is the very first app on the market where it contains restaurant menus blind people can actually use," Petrous said.

After watching his brother and sister struggle through daily dining experiences, Petrous thought it was about time to invent an application to make ordering simpler and dining out more memorable.

"Its 2015, why can't it be something as simple as opening up her phone and accessing an app that has all the menus on there?" Petrous said.

Using his software experience as a mechanical engineer, Petrous quickly developed a mobile app that contains restaurant menus for blind people. Not only does the app help people who are visually impaired, but Petrous says it's great for everyone because it can filter through ingredients for anyone with food allergies.

The app has been on the market for a month now and already has over 500 downloads without any marketing. Petrous' brother and sister use it every chance they get.

It's simple to order and use. The first step is to turn on your "voice over" option in your phone's accessibility setting and download the free app. Continue to tap your phone until you hear a restaurant of your choice, then double tap when you hear what you're looking for. The same thing goes for deciding what to order.

Petrous plans to expand his vision, allowing the app to access more than just menus and possibly taking it worldwide.

"I've been getting contacts from people in the UK,  people in Europe and people in Australia saying 'when are we going to be able to use this?'" Petrous said.

Panda Express, Carvel Ice Cream, Orange Leaf Yogurt, Tony Roma's, Pizza Rustica, Happy's Pizza, Taco Cabana and Spicy Pickle are all signed up with Tappy Menu. Petrous is working on getting even more on board.

You can view and hear the fully Tappy Menu tutorial in the YouTube video below.

34640498