[blindlaw] American currency and other accessibility issues.

[McCarthy, Jim]

Joe and others,
The retail industry in the state of California, as I understand it,
wanted to permit an overlay for touch screens.  Instead though, that
state will require a keypad that is tactilely discernable.  The problem
with business having overlays is that sure as the world, when you need
the overlay, it will not be there.  However, either of these approaches
only gets us part of the way to where we need to be. 
Remember all the jokes about drive up ATM machines, they have Braille
but we do not drive?  Many of us actually have learned the patterns for
these machines and we kind of got buy.  However, they proved not to be
very accessible because just when we came to know the pattern, a new
prompt was added like "for
Spanish, press 2," or do you want a receipt press yes or no."  The point
is that so long as the pattern does not change, a discernable key pad or
overlay works for most of us.  Over time though, industry finds more an
more valuable information to add to these devices.  For transit fair
machines, Baltimore changed the fairs for its light rail, but neglected
to change the Braille and large print signs on its machines.  Those cost
money and no one apparently thought of the blind reading the machine to
determine the fair and then not understanding why we could not get a
ticket.  Some day, we will really need access probably by voice to all
the screens offered.  Ray is right though.  We are working at it.
-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Joe Orozco
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 10:39 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] American currency and other accessibility
issues.

    There's a disk jockie in Texas who's radio studio uses a similar
touch screen to run their broadcast programs.  Apparently there was an
engineer who devised a customized plate that fits over the touch screen
so that the DJ knows where to press.  I wonder if a Braille labeled
plate of sorts could be used so that the machines retain their
attributes for the sighted and add a level of accessibility for the
blind?  I know it sounds ridiculously simple, and I'll try to find more
information on the accommodation this guy uses, but maybe the
accommodation does not have to be something of astronomical
modifications.

          Joe Orozco

"The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in
battle."--Military Basic Training
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joshua E. Saunders" <joshuasaunders at sbcglobal.net>
To: <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 8:24 PM
Subject: [blindlaw] American currency and other accessibility issues.


>I have been listening to the debate on both sides of the issue, with 
>regards  to currency accessibility.  The Federation has a point in that

>there could  be a backlash if the public comes to resent blind people 
>for demanding too  many accommodations.  At the same time I don't think

>we should simply make  the assumption that that is the attitude most 
>cited people will have.
> Cited
> people who I've talked to have seen it as a positive thing.  It's 
>possible  that because I am blind they feel like they have to respond
in this way.
> I
> haven't gotten any sense of deceptiveness in people's responses
however.
>
>
>
> Since we have been talking about accessibility issues I wanted to 
> raise one which I have been thinking about.  Touch screens are 
> ubiquitous parts of the ATM machines at supermarkets.  There also 
> present as a part of many other common machines such as the automatic 
> ticket machines for Amtra I found myself in a very uncomfortable 
> situation when I had to hand my credit card to a total stranger in 
> order to have my previously purchased ticket extracted from the 
> machine.  Now I simply do not by my tickets in advance, so that I 
> don't have to use the machine.  k.  I wanted people 's thoughts on 
> whether we should work to have this technology made more accessible.  
> To me it seems just as important as making web sites accessible, 
> because of how common the technology has become.,
>
>


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