The Beaumont [Texas] Enterprise

An ATM that listens

DAN WALLACH , The Beaumont Enterprise

10/01/2002

Photo Caption:
An automated teller machine at Hibernia's new branch at 3950 N. Dowlen
Road helps vision-impaired people conduct transactions.
Photo credit:
Tom Eckert

Mike Troxclair, vocational rehabilitation teacher for the Texas
Commission for the Blind, talks about the new audio-assisted ATM provided
by Hibernia at its new Dowlen Road location. BEAUMONT - Automated teller
machines give people around-the-clock access to cash - insert your card,
read the prompts, press some buttons, retrieve the bills, and drive away.

Now try it with your eyes closed. It becomes a maze of buttons and no
sense can be made of any of it.

An automated teller machine at Hibernia National Bank's new branch at
3950 N. Dowlen Road helps a vision-impaired person such as Mike Troxclair
regain that easy access.

Troxclair, 58, a vocational rehabilitation teacher with the Texas
Commission for the Blind, tested the teller Monday, withdrawing some cash
with ease.

"I think this will be a big help for those who can't see it," said
Troxclair, who lost his sight to glaucoma 13 years ago. "People are very
sensitive about their financial transactions. This will help increase
their independence."

Equipped with an earpiece the bank makes available to vision-impaired
customers without charge, Troxclair simply plugs the earpiece's jack into
the connection on the automated teller, and followed the recorded
prompts.

He easily navigated the number grid and the selection buttons along the
left side of the automated teller, entered his password number, made his
selection, listened to the automated teller tell him what he selected,
and completed the transaction with cash in his hand.

The buttons are not imprinted with Braille characters, either.

Braille helps only to a point because not every vision-impaired person
can read Braille, Troxclair said.

Also, Braille does not convey the automated prompts a person needs to
proceed with an automated teller transaction.

For purposes of demonstration, the bank set up a speaker so reporters
could observe the entire transaction.

"This gives us the satisfaction of doing things independently," Troxclair
said. "It makes you wonder why they aren't in more places."

Kristin Louviere, the Hibernia branch manager, said because hers is the
newest branch, her building got the latest technology.

"We've only had a couple of people use it," she said.

As far as she and Troxclair know, this is the only such automated teller
in the region.

"It'd be a definite direction to follow their path," Troxclair said.

Louviere invited people to call the branch at (409) 880-1285, and press
option No. 6 to contact customer service for more information on the
automated teller.

Troxclair said his job at the Commission for the Blind is to work with
employers to help keep vision-impaired people employed.

"I think it will encourage people to get out more rather than stay in,"
he said. "Losing one's vision makes you feel isolated. This will spawn
more independence."

Glenda Griffin, Hibernia's public and community relations manager, said
the Commission for the Blind told her there are about 11,000
vision-impaired people in Southeast Texas and about 600,000 across the
state.

That figure is expected to increase by 7 percent in the next few years as
the population ages, she said.

"We will install ATMs with this capability when we do upgrades," she
said.

Hibernia already is planning to equip the new-generation automated
tellers with a Spanish language component.

Reach this reporter at:

(409) 833-3311,ext.450

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©The Beaumont Enterprise 2002


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