this has been one of my projects for the last few months.

kellly


Chicago Tribune
April 26, 2001


Talking ATMs give blind independence

By Melissa Allison

For years, retrieving money from ATMs has been a chore for Ann Byrne.

Because she is blind, Byrne generally takes along her daughter Joanna
to read the screen. But when her daughter is unavailable, Byrne
sometimes finds herself requesting help from people she would prefer
not know her personal business.

These days, the banking industry has an answer for Byrne's dilemma.

Prodded by activists for the blind, Bank One Corp. recently added 30
voice-equipped ATMs to its network in Illinois and Ohio. Plans call
for 100 more in these and other markets by the end of the year, the
Chicago-based company said Wednesday.

Similar machines were rolled out in California last year by Wells
Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. In Chicago, U.S. Bank installed
one last year at 1953 N. Clybourn Ave., and plans to unveil two
talking ATMs in the Wrigley Building next month.

With the new feature, Byrne and others can walk up to an ATM, plug in
earphones supplied by the banks and handle transactions with the same
privacy others take for granted.

Byrne, a project manager at Exelon Corp., does not have accounts at
Bank One but plans to use one of its talking ATMs near her office
regularly.

"It gives me an error message that says, 'Your account will be charged
$1.50 for this transaction,'" she said. "It's the first time I've ever
heard that message, and you know what? I don't care. I'm so thrilled
to be able to go to an ATM and get out money without telling someone
else what my PIN is."

The voice technology also takes the edge off one of the greater
absurdities of modern-day ATMs: their Braille keypads -- especially
those on drive-through machines.

Besides the fact that most of those with acute visual impairments
don't read Braille or drive, the keypads don't help when the
transaction must be carried out through visual messages on a computer
screen.

Michael Welborn, head of retail banking at Bank One, said he doubts
voice-equipped ATMs will bring more business to Bank One. The idea is
to make the bank more accessible to customers, he said. "It seems to
me to be the right thing to do."

It costs Bank One about $4,000 to retrofit a machine with voice
capabilities, plus the cost of headphones that customers can plug
directly into the machines.

Byrne, for one, believes banks can do more to help the blind. She
worked with activist Kelly Pierce to encourage Bank One to add ATM
voice capabilities.

Bank statements could be sent with larger print, Byrne said. People
who cannot read large print could use taped or audio-equipped computer
disk versions of their statements.

Some banks' Web sites are problematic, too, she added. It is difficult
for blind individuals to maneuver when a site is filled with graphics
that have no words attached. In those cases, their computer readers
will call out "graphic" rather than the graphic's link, giving the
customer no clue about where to click, Byrne said.

Bank One is discussing those and other issues with civil rights
attorneys Linda Dardarian and Lainey Feingold, who worked with Byrne
and Pierce to bring voice-equipped ATMs to Bank One.

Although the activists filed no litigation against Bank One, banks
that refuse to provide talking ATMs could be at risk under the
Americans with Disabilities Act, Dardarian said.

"We believe talking ATMs and alternative formats for written materials
will benefit not only blind and low-vision people, but people with
learning disabilities, dyslexia, people who don't know how to read,"
she said.


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