	September 1999

Automated talking machine?

June 25, 1999

If an ATM could talk, visually impaired people like Theodore Young might find it easier to make banking transactions just as a sighted person does.
A lawsuit filed by the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania against Mellon Bank and PNC Bank may force the banking industry to take a closer look at making ATMs more accessible to users like Young. The federation wants to require the banks to provide voice-equipped ATMs for visually-impaired customers.
At least one west coast bank, Wells Fargo, plans to resolve the problem soon by deploying 20 voice-activated ATMs.
Young, president of the Pennsylvania federation, said talking ATMs are needed because only a small percentage of visually impaired people can read Braille. And even if Braille is available on an ATM's face, visually-impaired customers don't know what is being displayed on a screen. Talking ATMs not only need the capability to speak, but to read screen changes.
Young, who owns a voice-activated computer business and is totally blind, said he believes that the technology is available for deployment on a widespread basis.
Spokesmen for Mellon and PNC declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing corporate policies not to issue statements during pending litigation.
While the top two U.S. ATM manufacturers produce talking machines, they say implementing the technology would pose a huge challenge for deployers.
Technically speaking
In 1997, Diebold introduced a voice guidance option that annunciates both screen displays and key selections including function keys, said Tiffini Bloniarz, Diebold's senior media relations coordinator. The voice guidance uses .WAV technology and can be programmed to see numbers and read them back. The ATMs are equipped with a jack to allow users to plug in headphones for security.
However, Bloniarz said the technology must be able to work within the host environment, which could mean additional costs for an operator to establish compatible software. So far, Wells Fargo is the only bank that has made plans to install the voice guidance technology.
Bloniarz offered a couple of theories on why voice guidance hasn't sold. "Implementation requires not only the ATMs, but also the host driving environment to enable the capability," she said. "There's a lot more to it than hardware upgrade." Also, banks would be responsible for actually programming the .WAV files.
Another reason deployers haven't purchased the option is they may not be fully aware of its availability.
Diebold isn't the only large ATM manufacturer to introduce voice-activated technology. Last year, Royal Bank of Canada piloted a talking ATM manufactured by NCR.
NCR scripted each screen in the ATM with an audio file that would read its content to the customer, who would listen through stick headphones. The headphones were inserted on a jack in the face of the machine.
Implementation on a widespread basis would require customizing each machine for each individual bank, said Rob Evans, NCR's marketing director. "It's not the same for everybody. It's custom development for each machine, and that's something I think gets lost sight of when we talk about this implementation and how it can work."
Additional consideration must be given to the fact that there are multiple networks that differ in their rules for processing transactions, Evans said.
Script changes
Evans said widespread deployment would require developing specific applications in conjunction with a bank and its switch network provider, then finding a way to deploy it on the ATMs. This could be cumbersome, he said.
"You can't take just simply one script of recorded screens, develop them and deploy them across every single machine because all your machines don't work the same," Evans said, explaining that not every ATM dispenses the same denominations nor does every one accept a deposit.
Before the Americans With Disabilities Act passed in 1992, banks had already begun purchasing ATMs inscripted with Braille on the face. At the time, Evans said this was the best technology available.
Evans said he believes banks have done a good job of trying to meet the needs of disabled customers. In addition to Braille on the machines, customers can get an audio tape that gives instructions on how to use the ATM.
Other accommodations are made, as well. ATMs are often equipped with audio devices that sound beeps to alert customers to take their cash and the receipt. The numbers on keypads are usually raised so they can easily be read through touch.
Evans said he respects the position of the federation and conceded that the availability of the technology hasn't moved quickly enough. "The widespread accommodation has not happened with the speed that the advocacy community would like to have seen it happen," he said.
However, Evans warned of a danger in the government mandating any specific technology. "What if something better does come along?"
He mentioned that some visually impaired people have used shortwave FM broadcasting that was installed within an ATM. Customers wear an earphone hooked to a radio, which broadcasts through a shortwave frequency. Customers are alerted when they reach the ATM, given instructions and notified when to take their money and receipt.
Although he doesn't know if the talking ATM that NCR piloted in Canada will resolve the matter, Evans believes it is a good first step. He even anticipates voice activated ATMs growing into widespread use some day.
But, the industry is a long way from a massive deployment of the machines. For one thing, there are more low-end devices being installed at off-premise sites. These ATMs generally don't have audio output because they're produced at lower costs and provide few frills.
"I don't know how you would do a digitized service on them because they don't have the requisite processor," Evans said.
That leaves the initial change up to financial institutions, which typically deploy fuller-function machines.
John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers Association, thinks that trying to mandate the same technology for individual institutions could be problematic.
"There's no standardization of ATMs because every business wants to feature something different on their ATM. It allows for flexibility and also more ATMs in the marketplace," he said. "There are a variety of costs, a variety of prices of ATMs because of this."
Young said that he doesn't believe cost should be an issue, especially since most banks issue surcharges on non-customers using their ATMs. "You're hard put to find any sympathy from me in terms of a minor cost in making those machines accessible."
The banking industry may be forced eventually to install voice activated ATMs. The Federal Access Board, which adopts standards for the Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guideline (ADAAG), is expected to issue a proposed guideline by the end of the year to require banks to provide talking ATMs for customers, said Nessa Feddis, senior federal counsel for the ABA.
Any proposals made by the Access Board must be adopted by the Justice Department before they become industry regulations.
"I think you'll see a lot of bigger banks moving toward it. They already are," Feddis said.
Wells Fargo Bank intends to place at least 20 ATMs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego for a program it's developing with the California Council for the Blind. In addition, the San Francisco-based bank has announced an overall plan to establish 1,500 talking ATMs throughout California if the pilot is successful, with 100 being placed by 2000, according to an Associated Press article.
The machines will be equipped with an earphone jack for security and will recite instructions on how to make various transactions as well as purchase stamps.
Seven years ago, when the Americans With Disabilities Act passed and when ADAAG was created, Feddis participated in meetings regarding the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 117, a building code standard for the banking industry. The standards still used today were the best technology had to offer at that time, she said.
ATMs are included under ANSI 117. Individual states and municipalities decide whether to adopt the standard as it is, modify it or ignore it.
Like Evans, Feddis mentioned the challenges involved in customizing software for every machine."It sounds as though it's an easy project to make ATMs talk, as it were. But the problem is it's not a closed system," she said.
Talk ain't cheap
Since there are varying levels of voice technology, Feddis said that one question that needs to be addressed is specific requirements for the talking ATMs. "Some can talk more than others," she said. "Will both large and small banks alike be required to install talking ATMs?"
Hall said that costs to upgrade or replace existing machines will be the main point of concern for banks.
"The costs for this could really put a burden, not only on the industry, but particularly on smaller institutions. Small banks would really have a problem," he said.
"Their costs are going to rise which tends to be absorbed somewhere, at least in part, by consumers," Feddis noted.
To Young, the cost is a small price for banks to pay to accommodate all customers. He said that the visually-impaired market is virtually untapped for ATM usage, because only a small percentage currently use ATMs.
"Because they're not accessible now, people don't use them. So it's very difficult to say how many people would use them if they were available," Young said. "Only a few (blind) people are brave enough to risk withdrawing when they want to deposit."
http://www.atmmagazine.com/news.html?article=1083

EDITOR'S NOTE: The ADA law was passed in 1990, not 1992.

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