Last week’s American Bankers Association Compliance Conference was a blast! We were the only vendor showcasing products dealing with ADA compliant electronic statements.
I had the pleasure of co-staffing the booth with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). In attendance with me were Paul Schroeder, David O’Neill, and Marc Grossman.
Co-staffing our booth actually worked out better than I could have hoped. The AFB’s focus was on ADA compliance, including websites and anything physical such as bank machines for example. Putting accessible electronic statements into the mix fit very well, and everyone we spoke to was quite receptive to the approach.
Americans with Disabilities Act: What You Need To Know, was by far my favorite session of the week. It was moderated by Virginia O’Neill, Senior Counsel, ABA Center for Regulatory Compliance. The session had two key speakers; Karen Stephenson, an Associate from Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago as well as Paul Schroeder, VP of Programs and Policy at the American Foundation for the Blind in Washington.
Virginia almost brought tears to the audiences eyes, telling a quick story about her husband, and some of the challenges he has faced after suffering a number of strokes in the past, and the relevance to her daily life and of course, the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Karen brought us down to earth. She spoke about a number of important aspects of the ADA, especially relevant to the recent changes which were implemented in the last year. The service animal discussion was particularly engaging – have you ever heard of a “miniature horse”? Well apparently they are out there, and people are actively using them over service dogs for a number of reasons, first and foremost they are stronger than most dogs and apparently cheaper to maintain. Do you have a service animal policy, and does it include “miniature horses”?
Paul provided an enlightening presentation (with David’s help:)). Paul should be a motivational presenter! His attitude and demeanor are of the highest regard, and the relevance to the community of blind and visually-impaired is obvious and apparent. Although not part of legislation yet, he spoke highly of Actuate, our commitment to accessibility and of course, our solution for accessible statements.
One of the angles he used is difficult to measure. According to the ADA, although Braille and Large Print statements are considered acceptable “alternatives” to paper-based ones, he called out some key differences in them, and reasons to
adopt an accessible electronic format instead:
- Many Blind and Visually Impaired individuals do not use Braille, hence it is not really an acceptable alternative
- There could be a delay of up to one month in actually receiving the alternative statement
- Preference. Most Blind and Visually Impaired would prefer receiving electronic copies of their statements. Not only does it give them independence but, it allows them to partake in this critical aspect of society which is often overlooked.
My 2 cents; you need both, alternative and electronic. There will always be a need for statements in Braille, Large Print or even Audio CD. Electronic is simply a great option, and one that will easily comply with the ADA rules and regulations, and avoid hefty lawsuits!
Want to see our setup at the show? I’ve posted a pic here.
Are you a bank or financial institution looking to make sure you are in compliance with the ADA? Here are a few contacts worth talking to in order to get the job done:
ADA Consulting (Website or physical, including ATM’s)
Marc Grossman,
American Foundation for the Blind
Alternative Statements (Braille, Large Print or Audio CD)
T-Base Communications
Accessible Statements
Xenos – a Division of Actuate
http://www.xenos.com/xe/solutions/transformation/accessible-statements/
