Talking ATM History: Early Structured Negotiations in New England and the Midwest

This post is one in an ongoing series on the history of the advocacy and technology behind Talking ATMs. A short summary of all articles in this series is available by selecting the Talking ATM History link on the Categories Page of this website. In this post you can read about early Massachusetts Talking ATM advocacy and Talking ATM efforts in Chicago and the Midwest. Read more… Talking ATM History: Early Structured Negotiations in New England and the Midwest

New York A.G. Announces Comprehensive Web Access Settlement

Congratulations to New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s office for its announcement this week of a comprehensive accessibility settlement with HSBC Card Services. Read the NY AG’s press release. The settlement, negotiated by attorney Jeffrey Powell in the Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection, addresses web accessibility, alternative formats for visually impaired customers, relay service for deaf and hearing impaired customers, and other important accessiblity issues. Under the Agreement, the HSBC web site will satisfy Conformance level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, promulgated by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (w3c) no later than May 31, 2010. Read more… New York A.G. Announces Comprehensive Web Access Settlement

Talking ATMs: Early History in California and Beyond

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

Google Acquires reCAPTCHA: Potential Boost for Web Accessibility

Web Accessibility activists take note: Google has just purchased reCAPTCHA, the most widely used audio CAPTCHA on the internet. In this post you can read about the Google Announcement, the importance of blind user testing for CAPTCHAs, key features for effective audio CAPTCHAs, and my personal congratulations to ReCaptcha Co-Founder Luis von Ahn. Read more… Google Acquires reCAPTCHA: Potential Boost for Web Accessibility

Talking ATM History: Litigation Plays a Role

Structured Negotiations were not the only legal strategy used by blind advocates interested in expanding Talking ATM installations in the United States. In this post you can read about successful Talking ATM litigation that increased the numbers of Talking ATMs in the United States. Litigation also played another role in the history of Talking ATMs. On at least two occasions, the blind community was forced to object to class action settlements that did not fairly address the issue of accessible ATMs. Read about objections to class action settlements that threatened Talking ATM advocacy. Read more… Talking ATM History: Litigation Plays a Role