this report comes via the web site atmmarketplace.com.

Kelly

   Access For All: A Follow-Up

   by James Bickers January 29, 2001

   On the weekend of January 26, a group of bankers, ATM industry
   professionals, and blind advocacy groups met in Washington, D.C. to
   discuss the future of ATMs and their accessibility to the blind
   community.

   "It went well. We had a productive discussion that covered a lot of
   territory. We agreed to meet again, and continue the discussion," said
   Bill Raymond, senior VP and ATM channel manager of Bank of America,
   and one of several representatives of the banking industry at the
   meeting. The American Bankers Association organized the event.

   Indeed, the response to the meeting and its expected repercussions
   seems to be positive from both sides. Curtis Chong, director of
   technology for the National Federation of the Blind, was encouraged.

   "We had meetings with a variety of banks, and some of the switching
   vendors and ATM manufacturers. I think that overall, the meeting went
   very well - it was a good first meeting," Chong said. "I dont think
   you could call it a negotiation; it was lets get acquainted, here are
   the issues as we see them. And everybody concluded by the time we were
   done that meetings like this were very helpful, and that we should
   have more of them. And hopefully we will, in the next few months, so
   we can keep this line of communication open."

   Chong, who has been closely involved with the issue since the passage
   of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) roughly a decade ago,
   left the meeting more optimistic than he entered. Although ironclad
   details and plans of action were not the focus of the meetings, he
   said he felt good about the improved atmosphere of collaboration with
   the banking executives.

   "Blind people have a heck of a time understanding why the banks are
   apparently dragging their feet, from the consumer point of view," he
   said. "The banks point of view is, we dont know what you guys want,
   theres no standard, that sort of thing. The fact that you could get
   these people into the same room and not have them confront each other
   is a huge step forward in this business. Once you can start the
   dialogue going, then theres going to be some willingness to not stand
   hard and fast on fixed positions."

   Some of the topics that were addressed at the meeting include:
     * How to best approach the low-end machine - the inexpensive ATM
       that perhaps does not have enough memory or expansion capabilities
       to allow it to become voice-enabled.
     * The frustration experienced by the blind because of technology in
       general - ATMs are not the only devices that are becoming
       increasingly involved, increasingly computer-driven, and less
       accessible to the blind. (For instance, Chong points out that
       stoves with touch-pad operation are much less useful to the blind
       than the old counterpart with knobs that could be easily felt.)
     * Discussion about whether or not voice guidance is the way to go. A
       consensus was reached that voice guidance is essential for
       accessible ATMs.
     * Clarification about Braille on keyboards. According to the NFB, it
       is a common misconception that all blind people read Braille -
       according to NFB figures, only 10-15 percent of the blind
       population does. Furthermore, Braille doesnt tell the user whats
       going on onscreen.

   One major topic which apparently was not discussed in great detail was
   that of retrofitting - what to do with the countless ATMs already in
   existence. Chong said that the issue was not thoroughly dissected at
   this meeting, but that "[the retrofitting issue] has to be worked out
   in an atmosphere of trust and open communication, and I think prior to
   this meeting, we might not have had as much trust and communication as
   we would have liked."

   Now that some groundwork has been laid, he hopes that future
   conferences will get into the specifics of retrofitting.

   According to Chong, one chief message was delivered to the banking
   industry at the meeting was that the time to work on accessibility is
   now.

   "Think about the blind when youre at the lab, when youre at the
   drawing board," he said, "not after youve already built the machine."

   All parties involved would agree that one meeting is certainly not
   going to solve the problems of ATM accessibility; but the consensus
   seems to be that the Washington meeting was an excellent first step in
   the right direction. And while no additional meetings between the
   groups are scheduled, both Chong and Raymond believe there will be
   more dialogue between the two groups as a result.

   "[This meeting] probably actually exceeded my expectations," said
   Raymond. "It was an excellent beginning to what needs to be an ongoing
   dialogue."

   "We said our peace, and they said theirs, and everybody learned
   something they didnt know before," said Chong. "In any first contact,
   thats what you want to happen."


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