A Pittsburgh attorney, on behalf of three blind clients, hassued seven credit unions and several more banks, claiming theirATMs don't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act's 2010 Standards for AccessibleDesign adopted by the United States Department of Justice.

And, according to court documents filed by attorney R. BruceCarlson, the lack of compliance is widespread: at least 50% of allATMs in the U.S. are inaccessible to blind individuals.

Credit unions sued by Carlson include the $131 million CenturyHeritage FCU of Pittsburgh, the $203 million USX FCU of CranberryTownship, Pa., the $1.2 billion American Heritage FCU of Philadelphia, the $415 millionPrimeway FCU of Houston, the $1.6 billion JSC Federal Credit Unionof Houston, the $412 million Members Choice CU of Houston and the$1.5 billion Premier America CU of Chatsworth, Calif.

All suits were filed after a March 15, 2012, deadline to complywith the 2010 rules.

Christopher Danielsen, director of public relations for theNational Federation of the Blind, confirmed that ATM accessibilityis, indeed, a problem for blind consumers.

He did not have data that supported the claim that half of allATMs aren't ADA compliant, but said small institutions andfree-standing ATMs not affiliated with a depository institution aremore frequent violators of the ADA when it comes to the blind.

Braille displays and buttons aren't enough, Danielsen said,because the screen is dynamic, changing according to thetransaction. And, the NFB estimates that only 10% of blindAmericans are literate in Braille.

Danielsen said online banking is also a problem for blindconsumers, especially as financial services trends towardelectronic access. Online banking software must be compatible withscreen access technology used by the blind, which outputs text tospeech or Braille display. Captchas used for security purposes canalso be difficult for the blind to overcome, he added.

According to the Department of Justice, which updated ADAregulations in 2010, ATMs “shall provide the opportunity for thesame degree of privacy of input and output available to allindividuals.”

Additionally, Section 707.5 of the regulations state that“machines shall be speech enabled”, which includes “operatinginstructions and orientation, visible transaction prompts, userinput verification, error messages, and all displayed information”accessible to those with vision impairments for independentuse.

Accessibility doesn't just mean the consumer can use the ATM;Carlson said in court documents that the ADA requires that blindconsumers be able to conduct transactions independently, withouthaving to share sensitive account information with a third party,such as an employee offering assistance.

Kim Hester, executive vice president, customer care andfinancial solutions for CO-OP Financial Services, is well aware ofthe ADA requirements, having led the network's efforts to ensurecompliance among its 30,000 ATMs.

Hester said CO-OP member credit unions must comply with allregulations, including the ADA, as part of network operatingrules.

She said CO-OP helps credit unions achieve compliance, providingassistance and support installing required software and hardwarewhen needed. Three of the credit unions sued are members of theCO-OP network: USX, American Heritage and Premier America.

Hester said she couldn't confirm all CO-OP affiliated ATMs werecompliant, saying a backlog in hardware production by ATMmanufacturers had resulted in delays.