Technology is not always the ally of accessibility, for example to pay for purchases when you are blind or partially sighted.
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Manuel Pereira is blind and when he wants to pay for his taxi, the case can be complicated. “I gave him my credit card, he explains. He hands me the device, I touch the touch screen. But I won’t be able to validate my code, it’s totally impossible…”
On the occasion of World Disability Day on Sunday 9 October, the Banque de France has issued a series of recommendations to facilitate the daily expenses of blind or visually impaired people, while technological developments sometimes complicate their daily lives. Thus, many visually impaired people simply cannot withdraw cash or pay by card.
It would take raised keys, but these cheaper touch screens are becoming widespread, regrets this accessibility manager of the Valentin Haüy association, dedicated to the visually impaired: “It’s the same problem in some banks: depositing a check, withdrawing money, everything becomes very complicated since everything is touch-sensitive on machines! And since there are fewer and fewer people at the counter, you go wait.”
It’s even worse to pay on the Internet, according to Christian Couderc, of the Confederation for the Social Advancement of the Blind.
“Sometimes the button to pay appears visually, but is not detected by our screen voice readers.”
Christian Coudercat franceinfo
“Sometimes it is impossible to click because of a Captcha, i.e. images to be put back in order, continues Christian Couderc. We sometimes have an audio alternative but it is not at all satisfactory for us because we can come across a foreign language. The words to be identified are also drowned in noise so as not to be recognizable by a robot. What complicates a little more the accessibility of online payments, which is however mandatory in the law for three years.