[gui-talk] Bank of America's ATMs

[S Farwaneh]

Hi Pam,

Thanks for your response. You are absolutely right and I did point 
that out to the manager; he claims that the new machines start speech 
automatically with and without headphones (contrary to the 
instructions on the machine itself). I was not able to speak to the 
tech person  directly to verify information and the manager refused 
to connect me with them (but I will try to reach the tech people 
Monday). I asked our NFB chapter members to try different BoA 
locations and we will discuss the outcome at our board meeting today. 
I was hoping to hear from other BoA users that their talking ATMs are 
still accessible as they were in the past.
Stay tuned,
Samira


At 04:16 AM 1/5/2008, you wrote:
>All right, there is something that just doesn't make sense here.  If you
>need headphones to hear the speech, why would the speech bother sighted
>people at all, since they would not be putting headphones in?  They
>shouldn't be able to hear it at all, so there is something wrong with that
>"logic".  I'm not blaming you for it; it's what you were told.  But it
>doesn't make sense.  Pam.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "S Farwaneh" <farwaneh at email.arizona.edu>
>To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 11:03 PM
>Subject: [gui-talk] Bank of America's ATMs
>
>
> >
> > >Speaking of accessibility, I had an interesting experience with Bank
> > >of America and I'm interested to know if others encountered the same
> > >experience. As you know, BoA was  the first to install talking ATMs;
> > >a few months ago, they replaced some or perhaps all their ATMs in
> > >Arizona with a new model; it claims to be a talking machine yet when
> > >you insert your headphone nothing happens. I spoke with several
> > >managers who had no clue what the reason was until today. I was told
> > >that due to sighted customers' complaints about the constant speech,
> > >they turned off the speech and require that those who need it to
> > >register their account as "hard of hearing" in order for their cards
> > >to be identified by the machine and the speech to be activated. I
> > >asked why The confusion between blind and hard of hearing but the
> > >manager did not know. He also claims that these machines are being
> > >used at all BoA locations nation-wide. So I would like to know if
> > >other BoA customers outside Arizona have similar encounters. are you
> > >still able to use their talking ATMs without this hassle? what kind
> > >of action would you advise at this point? I am thinking of moving my
> > >account to another bank, but since BoA used to be accessible, what
> > >can we do to stop banks from regressing to inaccessibility?
> >
> > Thanks for your input which I welcome either privately or to the list.
> >
> > Samira
> >
> >
> >
> > Samira Farwaneh
> > Assistant Professor, Arabic Language and Linguistics
> > Department of Near Eastern Studies
> > Department of Linguistics
> > Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Program
> >
> > Louise Foucar Marshall Building
> > 845 N Park Avenue, Room 440;  PO BOX 210158B
> > University of Arizona;  Tucson, Arizona  85721-0158B
> >
> > Phone: (520) 621-8629 Or 621-8012
> > Fax: (520) 621-2333
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > gui-talk at nfbnet.org
> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>
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Samira Farwaneh
Assistant Professor, Arabic Language and Linguistics
Department of Near Eastern Studies
Department of Linguistics
Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Program

Louise Foucar Marshall Building
845 N Park Avenue, Room 440;  PO BOX 210158B
University of Arizona;  Tucson, Arizona  85721-0158B

Phone: (520) 621-8629 Or 621-8012
Fax: (520) 621-2333