Who in the hell are they to tell me what will make my and other blind
people's lives easier?  The Access Board has proposed changes to the
Americans with Disabilities Act that will mandate talking atm's.  Comments
are due may 15.  I and members of the Chicago vicug are preparing a
response to the proposal as well as other groups.  These and other
comments will be forthcoming, so please be patient while these are
finalized.  Individuals and other vicug's can stand up to the arrogant atm
industry and demand that the government ensure adequate access to
financial services.  Stand by for sample letters.

kelly


   Proposed Regulations Won't Make Life Easier for Disabled Says Leading
   Electronic-payments Trade Association
   Updated 8:04 PM ET March 13, 2000 HERNDON, Va. (BUSINESS WIRE) - The
   Electronic Funds Transfer Association, the nation's leading electronic
   payments and commerce association today said that a proposal aimed at
   increasing handicapped accessibility to ATM machines may actually have
   the opposite effect.

   The comments came in testimony before the Architectural and
   Transportation Barriers Compliance Board regarding proposed changes in
   the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

   Proposed changes to the ADA will be so technically difficult to
   implement that they will result in burdensome costs to the
   electronic-payments industry, said H. Kurt Helwig, executive director
   of EFTA.

   "If banks, ATM owners and ATM networks are forced to implement these
   changes as discussed, the result will be closure of ATMs that do not
   handle enough transactions to justify the cost," Helwig explained.
   "The net result will be less ATM accessibility for disabled Americans,
   not more."

   In 1999 the number of ATMs deployed by non-banks for the first time
   exceeded the number deployed by banks. These machines are owned in
   many cases by smaller companies who may be driven out of business in
   complying with the proposed regulations, said Helwig, whose
   association members include the nation's independent ATM owners.

   Helwig estimated that the cost to retrofit an existing ATM with the
   technology required to meet the proposed regulations, including
   audio-capability, would be $10,000 per ATM.

   EFTA assisted the federal government in drafting the original ADA
   standards for ATMs, according to Helwig. "The problem in legislating
   technology as these proposals do," he explained, "is that you lose the
   flexibility to adopt new technology when it becomes available in
   subsequent years."

   About the Electronic Funds Transfer Association

   Approaching a quarter-century of service, the Electronic Funds
   Transfer Association is the nation's leading inter-industry trade
   association advocating the advancement of electronic payments and
   commerce. Its members include banks, transaction processing companies,
   ATM owners, technology companies, and virtually all shared ATM systems
   in the U.S.

   Contact: Electronic Funds Transfer Association H. Kurt Helwig,
   703/435-9800 URL: www.efta.org


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html