The entries on this site are organized by category and date. These are the entries made in 2003. Content is posted within each category in chronological order, with the most recent entries first. For a complete list of categories and sub-categories on this site, visit the categories page. You may also find content by using the search feature or the site map. Consult the archives for content organized by date and title.
2003 Archives
Fleet Bank Final Talking ATM Agreement
The Fleet Final Talking ATM agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and co-counsel Stan Eichner of the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts, using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the Bay State Council of the Blind and other Massachusetts advocates. Fleet, which was subsequently purchased by Bank of America, agreed in this document to install Talking ATMs at all of the Bank’s locations. The initial Fleet Agreement resulted in the first Talking ATMs in New England and a comprehensive alternative formats policy. It was the second agreement in the United States to require that a bank’’s website be accessible.
Bank One Final Agreement
The Bank One Final Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of blind advocates Kelly Pierce and Anna Byrne. In the Agreement, Bank One (now Chase) agreed to install 1,500 Talking ATMs, institute a national alternative formats policy, and upgrade its website to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) promulgated by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium. As of March, 2008, Chase Bank, the successor to Bank One, had over 9,000 Talking ATMs.
Wells Fargo Spanish Language ATMs Press Release
The Wells Fargo press release about its Spanish-speaking ATMs is one of several releases the bank issued as a result of its Talking ATM initiative. That initiative was the result of the agreement signed in 1999 as a result of the Structured Negotiations process.
Access World Talking ATM Article
This article Lainey wrote about Talking ATMs was published in January, 2003 in AccessWorld(R), a publication of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Part 2 of this Article, titled “You Can Bank on It, Part 2: Advocacy, Outreach, and Legal Authority for Talking ATMs,” can be found in the March, 2003 issue of Access World.
First Union Final ATM, Web and Alternative Format Agreement
This settlement agreement is the second First Union agreement negotiated by Lainey and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of representatives of the blind community in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Tom Earle, formerly with the Disabilities Law Project in Philadelphia, now known as the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, also represented the Claimants. In the initial First Union agreement, the bank began its Talking ATM roll-out. In this agreement, First Union, subsequently purchased by Wachovia, expanded its Talking ATM commitment, agreed to make its website accessible, and adopted a comprehensive alternative format policy. As of early 2008, Wachovia has thousands of Talking ATMs throughout the United States.