from http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000406atms3.asp

   Thursday, April 06, 2000

   By Patricia Sabatini, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

   Mellon Bank says it will begin testing a handful of talking ATMs later
   this year, but an advocate for the blind yesterday derided the plan,
   saying it falls far short of meeting blind patrons' needs.

   Mellon said it would install up to 10 automated teller machines in
   Pittsburgh and Philadelphia equipped with headphones so that blind
   people can listen to step-by-step instructions as they appear on the
   screen.

   But Ted Young, president of the National Federation of the Blind of
   Pennsylvania, which has sued Mellon over its ATMs, wasn't pleased with
   the plan. Young would like to see the talking ATMs at all Mellon
   locations.

   "It's garbage," Young said. "Mellon should listen to the blind as to
   what we need instead of deciding for us."

   The federation, along with several blind individuals, sued Mellon last
   summer, accusing it of violating federal disability laws.

   The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, was dropped
   last month after a tentative settlement was reached. But talks on a
   final agreement broke down, and the plaintiffs are in the process of
   having the suit reinstated.

   Neither side would comment on what went wrong.

   "We were unable to finalize a written agreement, so we decided on our
   own to move forward with the pilot," Mellon spokesman Ron Gruendl said
   yesterday, adding that Mellon believes the suit is without merit.

   PNC Bank also is facing a lawsuit over its ATMs that was filed last
   summer by several individuals in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.
   Settlement talks are ongoing.

   Banks have come under increasing pressure in recent years to make
   their machines more accessible to the visually impaired.

   Many banks, including Mellon and PNC, put Braille on ATM keys and
   labels. But groups with disabilities say that's not enough, since only
   about 15 percent of blind people can read Braille and Braille can't
   translate words on the computer screen.

   Last June, Wells Fargo reached an out-of-court settlement with the
   California Council of the Blind, agreeing to have talking ATMs in
   place at all of its locations in California by 2003.

   And last month, Bank of America agreed to install 2,500 talking ATMs
   in California and Florida over the next three years and to begin
   installing them in other states early next year.


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