Subject: Talking ATMs
From: Ozmun, Karen (Karen.Ozmun@METROKC.GOV)
Date: Tue Mar 27 2001 - 12:13:58 PST
> Fleet Talking ATMs Bring Banking Services To Visually Impaired
> By CAROL STAVRAKA ©2001 DiversityInc.com March 23, 2001
> As competition heats up in the profitable consumer sector, many banks are
> using new technologies to provide enhanced services.
> But at Fleet, technology is being used to offer improved services to a
> consumer segment that is often forgotten: the blind and visually impaired.
> The Boston-based company will install more than 1,400 talking Automated
> Teller Machines (ATMs), throughout its Northeast retail service area,
> which stretches from Maine to Pennsylvania. The talking machines are the
> first in the New England area.
> The ATMs are part of a major initiative to make banking services more
> accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Fleet is also increasing
> access to customer information in Braille, large print and audiocassette
> formats, and is increasing Web site accessibility for this group.
> The program is as much a business strategy as a philanthropic effort, says
> Nandita Bakhshi, director of Fleet's ATM and online services. "We're
> Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, but by not making our
> services more accessible, we were leaving out a fairly large and growing
> community."
>
> In Fleet's service area, that community represents 6 million people,
> Bakhshi says. And while many ATMs already have Braille instructions, a
> growing number of consumers with visual impairments don't read Braille.
> "The fastest growing segment of that group are senior citizens, many of
> whom may lose their sight later in life or suffer from degenerative eye
> diseases," she says. "It's less likely that they will know Braille," she
> says.
> Until recently, part of the problem in offering talking services has been
> a lack of technology from the ATM manufacturers. But two companies - NCR
> Corporation and Diebold Corporation - have introduced voice-guided and
> other adaptive technologies that Fleet will use. Fleet has already
> installed 16 talking ATMs in Massachusetts with another 150 planned in
> Massachusetts, New Hampshire and the metropolitan New York area by the end
> of the year. A total of 1,420 machines will be installed over the next two
> years.
> The talking ATMs are equipped with universal audio jacks. The machines
> provide detailed audio instructions for transactions through listening
> devices that Fleet provides.
> Fleet has worked with a number of community organizations including the
> Perkins School for the Blind to make sure its efforts were on track. For
> example, Bakhshi says its partners helped the company develop a
> user-friendly voiceover. "They gave us insight into what we needed to do
> to ensure the instructions were clear enough to be followed by someone who
> couldn't see," she says.
> The bank is also redesigning its Web site so blind users who use
> screen-reader technology can access every page. Finally, Fleet will
> provide more financial materials - including statements, brochures and
> other account information - in Braille, audiocassette, and large print
> formats.
> "Fleet is taking a leadership role within the banking industry," says
> Stanley Eichner, managing attorney of the Disability Law Center, a legal
> advocacy group in Massachusetts that works with Fleet and other companies
> to implement programs that benefit the disabled community. "We hope that
> other financial institutions follow in Fleet's footsteps."
>
>
> Karen Ozmun, Disability Compliance Specialist
> King County Office of Civil Rights Enforcement
> 400 Yesler Way, Room 260
> Seattle, Washington 98104-2628
>
> 206-296-7706 Voice, 206-296-7596 TTY
> 206-296-4329 FAX
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a24 : Tue Mar 27 2001 - 12:18:07 PST