Why Is Braille on Drive-Through ATMs?

Have you wondered why is there Braille on a drive-through ATM machine? Blind people, after all, won't drive there to use it.

The answer is not legislation, even though in general ATMs have to be accessible to people with disabilities. The solution is cost effectiveness.

Legislation

The Americans with Disabilities Act required the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, commonly known as the access board, to put together the Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines specifically require to make ATMs accessible to people with disabilities. However, the Guidelines make an exception so that drive-up automated teller machines are not required to comply.

So, while the Federal Government is often accused by making non-sense regulations, this is not the reason.

Cost effectiveness

The real answer is cost effectiveness. There are thousands of ATMs around the country. These have to be made in mass production. As most of these ATMs have to be accessible, it is easier to make all of them the same way, as opposed to producing ones specifically made to be drive-through units.

Production costs can be much lower when units are identical. The more variation is applied to a unit, the more expensive it gets.

For that matter, this also applies to elevators with Braille in parking garages.

How blind people use the Braille on the ATM?

You may also wonder what purpose does the Braille marking serve on the ATMs, after all, blind people still cannot read the screen.

The buttons on the ATm are indicated with Braille to help those who can read it. Besides the buttons, you will find a set of Braille instructions. These instructions can be different. One type explains the most basic series of steps to take out cash. These step by step instructions help blind people to use the machine, assuming that they only want to achieve the most basic functionality, and they do not encounter errors. However, if they want to deposit money, or carry out any other actions, it becomes more complicated.

These days, most ATMs also have a head phone jack. The other set of instructions simply explain to Braille reader where they can find this socket. If they carry a head set or ear buds with them, they can attach it to the ATM, and with the help of the Braille marks they can interact with the machine. This way they are able to use all the functionalities.

This solution, however, still does not make the ATM accessible to deaf blind people.