Hi all,

The AT community should be considering the implications of RFID (radio
frequency tags), as a means of object identification, e.g. items in shops.
RFID will replace bar codes over the next ten years, but the accessibility
implications should be considered now, so that the RFID technology is
developed to be useful to the 'print disabled' who cannot manage with paper
labelling of objects.

So far, RFID has only been hyped as a means of identifying items passing
from manufacturer to vendor, via distributors, in the so-called supply
chain.  Thus,

[quote from Infoconomy]
RFID means budget gains and jobs losses



1 July 2004 Businesses are expected to spend an estimated $5 billion on
radio frequency identification (RFID) technology during the next few years
in an attempt to improve the efficiency of their supply chains, according to
analysts The Yankee Group.




However, the deployment of RFID will mean that many workers who currently
use scanning devices to track stock will lose their jobs, according to the
report.

In the US alone, according to the Yankee Group, the jobs of some four
million workers involved in data collection in the US alone could be in
jeopardy.

RFID is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to
automatically identify tagged items. Unlike a bar code scanner, which has to
'see' the bar code to read it, RFID tags can be read as long as they are
within the radio frequency range of a reader - this can vary widely
depending on the type of RFID technology.

If deployed effectively, RFID can save money by reducing labour costs and
loss of stock, and can improve sales by ensuring the availability of
products. However, the price of the tags and the equipment make it
prohibitively expensive for many functions, although prices are expected to
drop in the next few years.

The Yankee Group expects the transition to be gradual: it could take as long
as a decade for RFID technology to replace bar codes, it says - it took bar
codes a similar length of time to gain widespread acceptance.

Accenture, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and IBM are among the technology
consulting companies expected to benefit the most from initial RFID
deployments. Large software vendors such as SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft will
also benefit, it says.

According to The Yankee Group, companies are currently spending about $500
million a year on RFID, but this is expected to rise to $3 billion a year by
2007.

[end quote]

Cheers,

John



----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly Pierce" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2004 3:40 PM
Subject: Another step toward audio ATMs


>     ATMmarketplace.com
>
>     30 June 2004
>
>     Another step toward audio ATMs
>
>     by Ann All, editor
>
>     The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on June 25 approved for
> publication a set of revised guidelines for the Americans with
> Disabilities Act -- including a new requirement for audio-enabled ATMs.
>
>     Marsha Mazz, senior accessibility specialist for the Access Board,
> which created the new guidelines, told attendees of last week's
> NCR-sponsored ATM Channel Planning seminar in Washington D.C. that the
> board will publish them on July 26, the 14th anniversary of the ADA's
> enactment.
>
>     Mazz said the guidelines are the baseline for standards maintained by
> other federal agencies that enforce the ADA, including the Department of
> Justice and the Department of Transportation.
>
>     Call to action
>
>     The new guidelines "can be used as guidance where they go beyond the
> current standards," Mazz said. "They enhance and support the existing
> standards."
>
>     Financial institutions and other ATM deployers that adopt the new
> guidelines "are in no danger of violating the existing law," agreed Nessa
> Feddis, senior federal counsel for the American Bankers Association. "You
> don't have to worry that these will change."
>
>     "Without a drop-dead effective date, this issue gets put on the back
> burner," Feddis said. "But continuing to do that would be a mistake."
>
>     Not good enough
>
>     Indeed, Curtis Chong of the National Federation of the Blind told
> attendees at a November industry conference that the visually impaired
> community was frustrated by FIs' relative lack of action on the issue.
>
>     "It's the will and the money and the mindset," Chong said. "(The
> blind) don't figure as a line item on anybody's balance sheet."
>
>     Both Chong and Daniel Goldstein, a partner in the Brown, Goldstein &
> Levy law firm which is assisting the NFB in a legal campaign to ensure
> that technology is usable by the blind, indicated that the NFB would
> consider litigation to advance its cause. Some of the nation's largest
> FIs, including FleetBoston Financial and PNC Bank, introduced audio
> enabled ATMs when threatened with legal action.
>
>     Goldstein said the industry would have spent less to equip ATMs with
> audio if it had been more proactive. "No thought was given to design
> issues before the technology was deployed. It's like installing an
> elevator. It's going to cost a lot more if it's installed after a building
> is constructed rather than before."
>
>     See related stories:
>
>     Getting along on ADA? Vision for the future ATM industry welcomes new
> ADA draft It's getting easier to add audio to ATMs
>
>     Goldstein called the new guidelines "a giant distraction." The current
> regulation, which calls for the blind to be able to make independent use
> of facilities such as ATMs, is "perfectly adequate," he said.
>
>     "If accessibility works, then you're not going to have blind people
> saying 'this needs to work a different way,'" he said. "A new standard
> will hurt the financial services industry and ultimately will hurt the
> blind. A more prescriptive requirement is guaranteed to become obsolete as
> technology progresses."
>
>     Goldstein said FIs and other ATM operators "did not look at it hard
> enough" when examining alternatives for audio capability at their
> machines. As early as the mid-1960s, he said, Digital Equipment
> Corporation (later acquired by Compaq, which in turn was acquired by HP)
> produced a hardware-driven device that could convert text to speech.
>
>     Getting more guidance
>
>     Yet some FIs are seeking further clarification on issues -- such as
> how many ATMs at sites with multiple machines will need to be voice
> enabled -- before proceeding with broad rollouts of the technology.
>
>     Responding to questions from the audience at the NCR seminar, Mazz
> said one ATM per location would be required to "speak." However, some
> attendees wondered whether a branch would be considered a single location
> -- if machines were in drive-up lanes as well as inside the building. "If
> the machines are serving different populations, then both will need
> audio," Mazz opined.
>
>     Michael Espinosa, ATM coordinator for MB Financial Bank, which has
> some 70 machines in the Chicago area, said FIs are trying to minimize
> their upgrade costs. While audio capability was added to MB Financial Bank
> ATMs during a recent Triple DES upgrade, Espinosa said the bank does not
> plan to activate the feature until it gets more guidance from the DOJ.
>
>     "Like most financial institutions, we have to be cost conscious. We
> will spend the money when it's necessary," he said.
>
>     Mazz predicted that it would be "a minimum of two years" before the
> DOJ will sign off on standards based on the Access Board guidelines.
>
>     Issues of barrier removal will be "the elephant in the room," she
> said. The DOJ could decide that if existing ATMs meet current standards,
> they do not need to comply with new standards until a new machine is
> installed. It would be more likely to make such decisions in areas like
> height and reach rather than audio capability, Mazz said.
>
>     For instance, the existing standard allows for ATMs between 48 inches
> and 54 inches high. The new guidelines specify a height of no more than 48
> inches.
>
>     "I can't speak for the DOJ, but I'm guessing that it would probably
> not make people lower ATMs that complied with the old standard," Mazz
> said.
>
>     "The DOJ can say that ATMs that comply with current regulations won't
> have to comply with the new ones -- but they can't say that ATMs that
> don't comply with current regulations won't have to," Goldstein said.
>