The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

January 6, 2002

Talking ATMs foster independence; Banking chore eased for blind
customers

BY Mary Judice

Life has just gotten a little easier for Steven Henry.

The blind postal worker can now do his banking with greater certainty
and less assistance than before. That's because "talking" automated
teller machines have been installed within walking distance of his home
and office. Henry used to memorize the sequence of keys he needed to
punch to complete his transaction using the Braille keyboard. But he
always worried that the program would change; any change in the sequence
of his transaction left him in a quandary.

Today, Henry simply plugs in his headset and listens for the prompts
that provide the same information sighted people see on the screen. He
can do his banking quickly and privately, because no one else can hear
what the machine is telling him.

Henry learned about the talking ATM on Sept. 11, when he walked to the
teller machine at Bank One's Amoco branch and found workers installing
the new machine. The terrorist attacks set back the installation.

The machine is one of 15 Bank One has installed in the New Orleans area
and 25 it has set up statewide. Hibernia National Bank also unveiled
talking ATM machines last year, opening one at its headquarters and a
second at its branch across from the Lighthouse for the Blind. By year's
end, the bank had installed another 10 talking machines.

Henry, who is a clerk typist in the Postal Service's equal employment
opportunity office, is no stranger to technology. He began banking
online when that was offered. And he has banked by telephone as well.

He's not alone in needing the services of a talking ATM. There are an
estimated 7,300 visually impaired and blind people in Orleans Parish and
more than 65,000 across Louisiana.

The new teller machines are just one more step in making him
independent.

"It means you don't have to have a sighted person or a stranger help
you," Henry said.

The machines are also a way of avoiding waiting in line at the bank,
Henry said.

Now that he's mastered the process Henry is out to help others.


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