At present, there are no talking atm's in Vermont.

Kelly


Visually impaired group sues for bank machine access

November 4, 2001

The Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt.  Four Vermont banks are discriminating against
the visually impaired by not modifying their automatic teller
machines to accommodate them, says a newly filed complaint with
the Human Rights Commission.

The complaint accuses Chittenden Bank, the Howard Bank,
Northfield Savings Bank and the Vermont Employees' Credit Union
with providing insufficient automated teller machine service for
blind people.

Technical and financial issues make it difficult to provide the
more advanced ATMs the complaint seeks, said Timothy Hayward,
executive director of the Vermont Bankers Association.

The people who filed the complaint are members of the Vermont
chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, said chapter
President B.J. Patterson of Montpelier. She said the national
organization, based in Baltimore, has joined the action.

The National Federation of the Blind feels strongly that banks
are required under the Americans with Disabilities Act to make
ATMs accessible, said Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, an attorney with
Brown, Goldstein and Levy in Baltimore.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, requires
companies to provide equal access to equipment, products and
services to people with disabilities, unless it presents an
undue burden on the company.

everyone would like to have ATMs that are accessible,o Hayward
said, but it's very complex. If you're using a Vermont ATM, and
your bank is in California, the switching networks have to be
compatible, every link.

There are about 1,200 blind or nearly blind people in Vermont,
according to the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired.

Many existing ATMs in Vermont have Braille on or near the
numerical keypads. Krevor-Weisbaum said that is insufficient, and
that the machines should offer audio instructions.

Krevor-Weisbaum said audio ATMs, with a jack so a customer can
plug in an earphone, have been installed in 19 states. In most
states, she said, the equipment was provided as the result of a
complaint similar to the one filed in Vermont.

almost all the cases brought are being settled, because banks
know they have this obligation, she said.

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