The Menu Problem in the Dark
Restaurant menus are a design problem for anyone with low vision. Small type, grey ink on cream paper, backlit from a candle on the table that casts more shadow than light. Even people without visual impairment frequently can't read them in ambient restaurant lighting. For someone managing vision loss — from NF2, macular degeneration, glaucoma, or any number of other conditions — a dinner out becomes an exercise in either asking someone to read the menu aloud or ordering by memory and hoping the restaurant hasn't changed its offerings.
The solution is doing the reading before you get there. This template is the place you store what you already know about restaurants you return to.
Starters, Main Course, Dessert: Your Personal Standing Order
Three fields, one for each course section, all free text. The entries are your favorites and your reliable orders — not a comprehensive transcription of the menu. "Calamari, avoid the bruschetta (dry)" in Starters. "Grilled salmon, always ask for extra lemon, no cream sauce" in Main Course. "Usually skip, but the tiramisu is worth it when it's on special" in Dessert.
This is institutional knowledge about a place you've been before. It's the difference between arriving at a familiar restaurant with confidence about what you want versus standing at the table while someone reads the menu to you and you try to decide under mild social pressure. The record handles the cognitive overhead of unfamiliar menus in advance, at home, when there's time and light.
The Logo Field and the Visual Anchor
Logo stores a photo of the restaurant's sign, exterior, or menu cover. For someone with low vision, the visual anchor of a recognizable logo can help confirm you're at the right place, help a companion know which restaurant you're describing, or simply make the database visually navigable — a row of restaurant logos is faster to scan than a list of text names.
Phone is the direct line for calling ahead. Hours uses the hint "Days, open and closed" — because arriving at a closed restaurant when you've specifically planned around a familiar menu is exactly the kind of friction this database exists to prevent. "Mon-Sat 11am-10pm, closed Sun" goes in once and stays there.
Location Pin and the Navigation Handoff
Location is a GPS coordinate — the Memento location field drops a pin at the restaurant's address. When you're on your way, opening the record gives you the exact navigation target without having to search for the restaurant name in a maps app. For someone using assistive navigation technology, having the pin pre-stored means one less lookup in an unfamiliar area.
Category — Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert — segments the database by meal type. When you're looking for somewhere for a Saturday lunch with family, filtering to Lunch-tagged restaurants surfaces only the relevant options. The combination of Category and pre-logged menus means the decision about where to eat gets made in the comfort of your phone, not in the parking lot.