more coverage on penn atm lawsuit

[Kelly Pierce <kelly@ripco.com>]

the following is from the current issue of the Pittsburgh news Weekly.
some may be disappointed from the response by the blindness agency.  It is
still the situation that many agencies pass personal opinion off as edict.  

kelly

   IN PITTSBURGH NEWSWEEKLY.COM | NEWS | June 23 - June 30, 1999
   
                         The Law | by Carey Checca
   
                         Is PNC Bank Short-Sighted?
     _________________________________________________________________
   
     Have you heard the one about the Braille keypad on the drive-up
     ATM? It isn't so funny anymore.
     
     Ten years ago, PNC customer Mark Senk says he had an easy time
     using ATMs: the numeric sequence to withdraw cash or deposit a
     check was posted in Braille on most machines, machines which only
     dispensed $20 bills. These days, with screen prompts changing
     sequence every few months, no detailed braille instructions posted
     near the keypads and additional keystrokes for usage fees, it's
     nearly impossible for Senk to use an ATM without the help of a
     sighted person. Entering an incorrect PIN number or keystroke means
     risking having the machine eat his card. So he's paid a $7 initial
     fee for a MAC card he can't reasonably use.
     
     Early this month, Senk and five other blind Pennsylvanians, and the
     Pa. Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind filed lawsuits
     against PNC Bank and Mellon Bank alleging that by not having
     talking automated tellers, the banks are violating the Americans
     with Disabilities Act. The act's guidelines specifically require
     that instructions and all information for use in ATMs must be
     acessible to and independently usable by sightless persons.
     
     Voice-equipped automatic teller machines would eliminate problems
     for the 12 million Americans whose significant impairment of vision
     cannot be corrected by glasses. But not one has been installed in
     Pennsylvania, or anywhere else in the country.
     
     "I don't think putting a sound card into an ATM is going to break
     the bank," says Senk, 43. The new technology, which is in use in
     eight automated teller machines owned by the Royal Bank of Canada
     and is a simple upgrade for current PNC and Mellon ATMs, allows
     customers to plug a headset into the machine and listen to the
     computer-read screen prompts.
     
     But Pittsburgh Vision Services information resource specialist
     Karen Good, who is blind and not involved in the lawsuit, says she
     would be hesitant to use a headphone-based talking ATM. "If you're
     listening to headphones, you might not hear someone around you,"
     she says. She prefers to use a human teller when banking.
     
     Royal Bank of Canada's customers have had no security problems,
     according to spokesperson Lori Smith. In fact, the bank, which
     installed and upgraded automated teller machines at the behest of
     their clients without threat of a lawsuit, has been cited by the
     Partnership of Access Awareness -- Nova Scotia for installing
     technology which allows disabled patrons easy access to their
     accounts.
     
     "I guess I'd like to do as much as I can independently," says Senk,
     a computer programmer. And using a teller at the branch office
     close to his Carrick home isn't feasible: The bank opens after he
     goes to work and closes before he comes home at night.
     
     "What if you're hanging at the local strip mall and you have to ask
     the local crack addict for help?" Senk laughs at the thought, but
     the reality is he can't withdraw his own money without the help of
     a someone -- either friend or stranger.
     
     Brian Gerke and Ron Grendle, spokesmen for PNC and Mellon banks
     respectively, say their banks are in full compliance with the ADA
     guidelines. PNC has an audio MAC instruction kit available to the
     blind, and its tellers are willing to help any customer use the
     ATM. (Teller fees are not waived for the blind on some of the less
     expensive checking accounts.) While Mellon offers bank statements
     printed in braille, PNC does not. And neither bank offers
     statements on computer disk in a format compatible with talking
     computers. Yet, both banks say they have worked to make their
     services available to the blind by including braille on ATM
     machines -- including those ubiquitous drive-up MAC machines.
     
     "Braille is not necessarily the universal form of communication,"
     says Micki King, coordinator of public education for Pittsburgh
     Vision Services, a non-profit organization that teaches those with
     vision loss how to stay independent. Current national figures
     estimate that only 15 percent of the vision-impaired population is
     Braille-literate.
     
     Until PNC and Mellon install talking ATMs in Pittsburgh or
     standardize the screen sequence, Senk will depend on his friends to
     help him deposit checks and withdraw cash.
     
     Says Senk, "That's all you can reliably do as a blind person."
     _________________________________________________________________