[Missouri-l] Fw: [leadership] ten years of Talking ATMs

[Chip Hailey]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "slovering" <slovering at acb.org>
To: <leadership at acb.org>
Cc: <announce at acb.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 9:50 AM
Subject: [leadership] ten years of Talking ATMs


For Immediate Release



Contacts:



American Council of the Blind

Melanie Brunson

(202) 467-5081



California Council of the Blind

Jeff Thom

(916) 995-3967



Bay State Council of the Blind

Bob Hachey

(781) 893-6251





Talking ATMs:  Ten Years of Accessible Technology for the Blind and Visually
Impaired Community



WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2009 -- The American Council of the Blind and its
affiliates in California, Massachusetts and around the country are proud to
recognize Oct. 1, 2009 as the 10th anniversary of the first Talking ATM in
the United States.



Ten years ago, the first Talking ATM was installed in San Francisco, Calif.
Since that time, ACB and its affiliates, led by the California Council of
the Blind, have engaged in extensive Talking ATM advocacy.  Today, as a
result of that advocacy and the work of ACB members and others, there are
tens of thousands of Talking ATMs in the U.S. and around the world.



ACB congratulates blind advocates across the country for persistent effort
over the past many years to increase independent and confidential access to
financial information and technology.



ACB also congratulates the financial institutions and ATM manufacturers for
demonstrating leadership in accessibility technology for the blind
community.  Wells Fargo, with over 7,000 Talking ATMs, was a leader in
installing the machines.



"Wells Fargo was the first financial institution in the country to develop a
plan for installing ATMs with voice instruction for the visually impaired,
so we couldn't be more excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the
first Talking ATM," said Alicia Moore, head of Wells Fargo ATM Banking.
"Today, we're proud that all Wells Fargo ATMs are Talking ATMR machines with
voice instructions in English and Spanish."



Other banks which have been champions on this issue since the beginning
include Chase Bank (with over 11,000 Talking ATMs) and Bank of America (with
over 16,000 Talking ATMs).



Talking ATMs allow blind and visually impaired customers to use ATMS
privately and independently.  The machines provide spoken instructions for
all ATM functions delivered confidentially through a headset.  They ensure
financial privacy so critical in an era of rampant identity theft.  Learn
more at  <http://lflegal.com/faqs/#talking-atms>
http://www.lflegal.com/faqs/#talking-atms.



About American Council of the Blind (ACB), Bay State Council of the Blind
(BSCB) and California Council of the Blind (CCB)

American Council of the Blind is a national consumer-based advocacy
organization working on behalf of blind and visually impaired Americans
throughout the country, with members organized through 70 state and
special-interest affiliates. The Bay State Council of the Blind and the
California Council of the Blind are the Massachusetts and California state
affiliates of the ACB.   ACB, BSCB and CCB are dedicated to improving the
quality of life, equality of opportunity and independence of all people who
have visual impairments. Their members and affiliated organizations have a
long history of commitment to the advancement of policies and programs which
will enhance independence for people who are blind and visually impaired.
More information about ACB, BSCB and CCB can be found by visiting
<http://www.acb.org/> www.acb.org,  <http://www.acb.org/baystate/>
http://www.acb.org/baystate/, and  <http://www.ccbnet.org/> www.ccbnet.org.