Last Updated on August 6, 2026 by Craig Allen Keefner
McDonald's kiosks offer accessibility features for users with low vision and blindness, including a movable screen magnifier and specialized buttons with braille for headset access. For example, the National Federation of the Blind's Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access demonstrated these features in June 2021. Additionally, McDonald's is exploring automation, with a test concept restaurant outside Fort Worth, Texas, featuring a food and beverage conveyor system for order pickup. This initiative aims to improve order speed and accuracy, though McDonald's states the location is not fully automated and still employs a team.
McDonald’s Kiosk Accessibility
We don’t normally see kiosk-related content on the DailyKos but this week a couple of nice videos surfaced on McDonald’s kiosk accessibility and in particular Low Vision and the magnifier. To top it off for McDonald’s videos, we’ve included one from the new robotic server in Dallas.
Robotics are NOT going away and will just get more and more effective. People make mistakes and they can be unreliable and at best inconsistent.
“Normal” User
From 2018 — McDonald’s restaurants across the nation are rolling out a new way to order food through kiosks. (Video by Sue Gleiter/PennLive)
Low Vision User utilizing screen magnification [2019] — In this vlog I show you how beneficial the kiosks at McDonald’s can be for people with low vision I demonstrate how to use the built-in magnifier accessibility option. I am placing an actual order.
The low vision accessibility gives you a movable magnifier (and you can use the wheelchair accessibility and the low vision at the same time) that you can use to see everything *really* large. the pictures and writing on the kiosk is generally pretty large in the first place. Bit could see everything fine without the magnification. With the magnifier it gets even larger. I did find a video on that. The part with the kiosk starts at 2:52, if you want to fast forward.
Blind User — 2,596 views Nov 8, 2021 — National Federation of the Blind’s Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access demonstrates accessibility features on McDonald’s kiosk in June 2021. Then there’s the accessibility for the blind. This starts with braile writing above the area where the headset plugs in and the special buttons for the blind are.
And for a real change
Read more HERE: https://www.theguardian.com/business/…
“The first mostly non-human-run McDonald’s is open for business just outside Fort Worth, Texas. At just one location so far, customers can drive to the golden arches and expect to be served a Big Mac or a Happy Meal by a food and beverage conveyor instead of an actual, real-life human being. A spokesperson for McDonald’s told the Guardian that the test concept “is not fully automated”, emphasizing that the restaurant does employ a team comparable to that of a traditional store. Smaller than a typical McDonald’s, the location is geared towards customers on the go rather than those who plan to dine inside. It limits interactions between team members and customers and uses “enhanced technology that allows the restaurant team to begin preparing customers’ orders when they’re near the restaurant”. The goal of the test is to improve order speed and accuracy. Customers can pick up their meals in a drive-through “order ahead lane” or order at the touchscreen kiosk inside the store. McDonald’s called the concept “more seamless than ever before”. But the stunt drew the ire of activists, who criticized the fast food corporation for entertaining the idea of a costly automatic restaurant rather than pay its workers a living wage.”
Resources
More Posts
- McDonalds Kiosk Accessibility – McDonald’s Access for Blind and Low Vision(Opens in a new browser tab)
- Inclusive Kiosks – McDonalds Kiosks Incorporating Vispero(Opens in a new browser tab)
- McDonalds Kiosk — Vispero JAWS Recognized by McDonalds(Opens in a new browser tab)
- McDonald’s Kiosks and National Federation of the Blind Collaborate(Opens in a new browser tab)
