By Nick Greenfield
A new automated bank machine in the Royal Bank at 99 Bank St. is the first step in a co-ordinated effort to make businesses user-friendly for people with disabilities.
Sharlyn Ayotte is president of T-Base Research and Development Inc., an Ottawa business that creates information technology for people with visual disabilities.
T-Base is a personal crusade for Ayotte, 45, who lost her sight nearly 20 years ago.
She says T-Base is dedicated to the universal design of technology and its application in society.
“People should be aware that (T-Base) is not a charity,” she says. “It’s people exercising their right as a citizen.”
T-Base and Royal Bank have been working since 1994 to develop services for visually impaired customers. The partnership was unveiled last week at the Royal’s 99 Bank St. branch. The audio ATM allows visually or audibly impaired customers to plug in a head set and use the machine.
Teresa Pagnutti, of the Royal Bank’s public relations department, says the bank provides braille bank statements and large print cheques. The audio ATM is one more service for the visually impaired.
Ayotte says the audio ATM isn’t just for the blind. She says the service is for people with a variety of disabilities.
“There is a massive portion of the population who require such a service,” she says, noting people with reading disabilities will also benefit.
Laubach Literacy of Canada says 1.6 million Ontarians have a reading disability.
Ayotte says when T-Base was founded, seven years ago, the business sector was an untapped market.
Ayotte says businesses now realize the potential of providing service to all customers.
“The Royal Bank has been great. They understood the market from the start.”
Ayotte says T-Base is currently working with several banks in North America, but wouldn’t name them.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind is an advocacy group for the blind. Carmen Tumak, who works in the national office in Ottawa, says the CNIB was a partner in the development of the audio ATM at 99 Bank St.
Tumak adds the CNIB is involved in several partnerships that promote the development of new business technologies.
“We work with the CBA (Canadian Banker’s Association) and the CSA (Canadian Standards Association) on different projects.”
As the population ages, Tumak says demand for such services, will increase.
“Failing eye-sight is only one component of an aging society,” says Tumak.
While strides have been made in the promotion of accessible business technology, Tumak says there’s room to grow.
“We’re either involved under our own initiative or we pool our resources. We throw our hats into several different projects,” she says. “A lot of people are involved, a lot of progress is being made, and a lot of progress can still be made.”