Talking ATMs

The Law Office of Lainey Feingold first began working on Talking ATMs in 1995. Lainey and her clients and co-counsel negotiated the first Talking ATM settlements in the United States. Beginning in 1999, Lainey negotiated 20 Talking ATM settlements with the country's largest financial institutions. Stories of many of these negotiations are included in Lainey's book, Structured Negotiation, A Winning Alternative to Lawsuits. This topic includes articles about those settlements, related press releases, Talking ATM regulations, international Talking ATM installations and more.

Fleet Bank Final Talking ATM Agreement

Posted on Updated on April 3, 2018
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. Read more… Fleet Bank Final Talking ATM Agreement

Bank of America Final National Agreement

Posted on Updated on April 3, 2018
The Settlement Agreement below is the third agreement that Bank of America negotiated with the California Council of the Blind and individual members of the blind community using the process of Structured Negotiations. This final agreement contains the bank’s commitment that 100% of its ATM locations will have at least one Talking ATM. As of early 2008, the bank is on the road towards far exceeding this goal, with over 11,000 Talking ATMs, and multiple Talking ATMs at many locations. Read more… Bank of America Final National Agreement

Bank of America California and Florida Agreement

Posted on Updated on April 3, 2018
The Bank of America California and Florida Agreement was negotiated by Lainey Feingold and Linda Dardarian using Structured Negotiations on behalf of the California Council of the Blind (CCB) and several individual blind advocates. The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) also represented the Claimants. This was the first agreement in the country in which a bank committed to make its website accessible, and the first in which a bank committed to install Talking ATMs in more than one state. This was the first of three agreements involving Bank of America’s services for blind customers. The interim Bank of America national agreement and the final Bank of America national agreement are posted in the Settlement Agreement Category. Read more… Bank of America California and Florida Agreement

New United States Talking ATM Regulations Now On Line

Posted on Updated on April 2, 2018
The United States Department of Justice has now made the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design available on line. The Standards were included in the revised ADA regulations announced by the Department in September, 2010, but the 257 page document was not on line until November 15, 2010. The Standards include, for the first time, detailed requirements for Talking ATMs. Read more… New United States Talking ATM Regulations Now On Line

Blind Turkish Pop Star Advocates for Talking ATMs and POS devices

Posted on Updated on April 2, 2018
[quote from=”CNN News article on blind Turkish pop star Metin Senturk”]Technological innovations are also widening access to some everyday activities, such as banking. Earlier this month, Turkey’s Yapi Kredi bank launched an ATM which talks visually-impaired customers through their transactions. It also rolled out point of sale machines that act in a similar manner.[/quote]On December 17, 2010, CNN ran the story reprinted here about Turkish pop star Metin Senturk who is blind. Mr. Senturk, who holds the Guinness record as the world’s fastest blind driver, started a disability rights organization in Turkey, and mentions disability issues on his weekly national television show. Another aspect of disability advocacy in Turkey? As explained more fully in the article here, the leading bank in Turkey rolled out its first Talking ATM on December 3, 2010. Talking Point of Sale devices have also been introduced. Read more… Blind Turkish Pop Star Advocates for Talking ATMs and POS devices

Landmark Victory for Blind Advocates in Hungary: CRPD means Talking ATMs

Posted on Updated on May 25, 2016
Szilvia Nyusti and Péter Takács are blind advocates in Hungary who wanted their bank (the largest bank in their country) to install Talking ATMs. After all, they paid the same fees as sighted customers, why shouldn’t they have the same access to services and technology? After a five year legal battle in Hungary, they took their claims to the United Nations. On May 16, 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued an historic ruling finding that Hungary violated the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) by failing to ensure that Hungarian banks had Talking ATMs. Congratulations to Szilvia and Peter. Congratulations to the United Nations. Congratulations to the CRPD for working as it should in protecting the rights of people with disabilities. Shame on the United States for failing to ratify the treaty. Read more… Landmark Victory for Blind Advocates in Hungary: CRPD means Talking ATMs

Blind Advocacy for Accessible Technology Has Rich California History

Posted on Updated on May 18, 2016
October 10 – 16, 2010, has been designated by the California legislature as the state’s first ever “Disability History Week.” The official designation is the result of disability community advocacy efforts spearheaded by “Youth Organizing! Disabled and Proud”, a project of the the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. This historic week provides a welcomed opportunity to look at the history made by blind advocates and their organizations in California as part of the on-going push for accessible technology. Read more… Blind Advocacy for Accessible Technology Has Rich California History

Share Your Talking ATM Experience

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2016
October 1, 2009 marks the tenth anniversary of the first Talking ATM installed in the United States. As a result of a wide range of advocacy efforts across the country, we estimate that there are now more than 100,000 Talking ATMs in the U.S., with thousands of others across the globe. In this post you can find information about how to share your Talking ATM experiences. There is also information on Talking ATM resources. Read more… Share Your Talking ATM Experience

Talking ATMs: Early History in California and Beyond

Posted on Updated on March 10, 2016
October 1, 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the first Talking ATM installed in the United States. From that first accessible ATM in 1999, there are now tens of thousands of Talking ATMs around the world. In this post, the first of several Talking ATM posts over the next two months, you can read about early Talking ATM history. Read more… Talking ATMs: Early History in California and Beyond