The blind and vision-impaired people in Pune need to do financial transactions at bank ATMs and they are increasingly visiting various bank ATMs and are in need of Talking/Voice ATMs.
These are regular ATM machines that have an additional 3.5 mm jack for inserting the headphone plug so that they can listen to the instructions without
actually looking at the screen to perform transactions like withdrawing cash from the ATM, Balance Enquiry, and ATM Pin change.
In the Pashan area, there are several bank ATM machines installed everywhere. The SBI bank ATMs in Pashan, Pune were visited and the following was checked:
- Check the availability of a 3.5 mm audio jack.
- Check if the 3.5 mm audio jack is operational.
- Check if the number pad of the ATM has raised symbols.
- Check if the push buttons on the ATM have Braille letters.
- Check if transactions on the ATM machine can be carried out successfully using audio/voice prompts.
- Check accessibility of the ATM campus.
- Check the availability of ramps.
- Check the accessibility of the parking space.
How a Talking/Voice ATM works
- To use a Talking ATM you must first locate an audio jack on the ATM machine and must insert a standard 3.5 mm headset into the audio jack to enable talking mode. A welcome audio message will be heard.
- The ATM keypad is identical to a standard telephone keypad with a raised dot on number 5.
- All audio instructions are in the form of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) which will guide you through the process of ATM
transaction. - Towards the right side of the ATM keypad you will find a column of important keys which are:
• Cancel: with the universal tactile shape ‘X’.
• Enter: with the universal tactile shape ‘O’.
• Clear: with the tactile shape ‘I’ or ‘<’.
Here’s a report of checking the SBI Bank ATM in Pashan, Pune:
Availability of a 3.5 mm audio jack.
Operational 3.5 mm audio jack.
Raised symbols on the number pad of ATM.
Braille letters on the push buttons on the ATM.
ATM screens with bigger size fonts to help low-vision persons to read on-screen text.
Successful transactions on the ATM machine using audio/voice prompts.
Accessibility of the ATM campus.
Availability of ramps.
Accessibility of the parking space.
Here are the snapshots:
The main entrance to the ATM campus is leveled with the Sus road and hence accessible for a wheelchair.
The 4-wheeler parking is spacious and is fully accessible.
The 2-wheeler parking near the ATM and bank is also accessible.
There are two ramps, one of each level to facilitate the entry of a wheelchair.
The view of the ramps from inside the ATM:
There are 2 ATM machines and one passbook-printing machine which are nicely spaced to ease the free movement of a wheelchair.
The number keypad has raised symbols to aid the visually impaired and the blind to use it.
The keys on the side panel have Braille symbols to facilitate the blind.
There is provision for a 3.5 mm audio jack for a hearing-impaired person to listen to the menus.
The ATM display shows and also narrates the onscreen options for the visually impaired.
The other ATM machine also has a 3.5 mm audio jack for those hearing impaired.
The audio jack also has a raised audio symbol to easily locate the jack socket.
The other ATM also displays shows and also narrates the onscreen options for the visually impaired.
Conclusion
The SBI Bank ATM in Pashan, Pune is fully geared towards embracing the differently-abled and though there were a few discontinuities, helpful people were always available nearby to ease the experience of the differently-abled.
This meetup was conducted as part of the Accessibility for All movement.
BR
Tushar Suradkar
Pune
This could be investigated… I will try to get more information.
