There are numerous errors in the Braille Monitor article and the claims by
leaders of the national Federation of the Blind in it.  I will try to
correct some of those here, supplemented with additional documentation that
I will share and apparently the NFB leaders saw fit not to share.

First, NCR is not a Canadian company.  It is American, based in Dayton,
Ohio.  It produces automatic teller machines that can be equipped with
speech synthesis.  Many existing machines not currently equipped can be
upgraded for about $1,800.  The upgrade is similar to adding a computer
card to a pc.

Currently, there is one bank in Canada that has a national network of
machines that are accessible with speech synthesis.  The royal Bank of
Canada has banks throughout Canada.  Contrary to what is claimed by the
NFB in the article, the Royal Bank did not decide to add speech synthesis
to atm's out of altruism or goodwill.  It did so as a result of a civil
rights complaint filed by Chris Stark of Ottawa with the Human rights
commission of canada.  The Federation may believe that multi-national
corporations and trans-global capital will respond appropriately after
receiving a few polite telephone calls from blind persons inquiring about
speech synthesis at atm's, however, power concedes nothing without a
struggle.  This is particularly so considering the cost of upgrading atm's
at some of America's biggest banks will reach into the millions of
dollars.  Investments such as those don't happen without political or legal
leverage.

What's missing from the article is any analysis of the Americans with
Disabilities Act vis a vis this issue.  The ADA accessibility guidelines
currently require atm's to be "independently usable" by people with
disabilities and that documentation must be in accessible formats.  While
there is no explicit requirement for speech synthesis, a strong legal
argument can be made that the broad language in the guidelines certainly
implies one.

I will forward information to the list that provides additional detail on
this issue, as many here seem quite interested as of late.

kelly


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