iQ CU Installs Special ATMs On Campus Of School For The Blind

VANCOUVER, Wash. - The Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) and iQ Credit Union have joined forces to install an accessible ATM with voice guidance features on the school's campus, the first such ATM to be placed in a school district in Clark County, they said.

The ATM will be accessible both for students and for all organizations that lease space on the campus including City of Vancouver Police Department, Educational Service District 112, Southwest Washington Child Care Consortium, and the Department of Services for the Blind. In addition, a number of public agencies and community groups bring approximately 50,000 people to use the campus facilities each year.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, requires reasonable accommodations be provided for visually impaired individuals at ATMs. The proposed new ADA Guidelines rule stipulates voice guidance is to be provided at ATMs in order allow visually impaired individuals equal access to the ATMs. The ATM installed at WSSB uses both Braille and voice guidance to help users with the machine.