With the release of the new $10 bank note this week, concern has been expressed that commercial banking technology changes could leave the low vision community behind.
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The new $10 banknote contains tactile features to provide assistance to the vision impaired community, something Vision Australia regional manager Yvette Gollmer said they’ve been excited about.
But she said there’s still a lot of work to do with banking technology, so it’s developed and designed for all uses.
“Accessibility needs to be at the forefront of all these advances,” she said.
Ash Finn, a local who has had no vision since birth, said she relies on a special device to measure slight differences in the size between denominations of old bank notes, something she’s concerned won’t be possible with the new ones.
“The reason I’m worried is because I’ve had the new $5 before and they only have one dot on each side and you have to look all over the note to know if the dot is there. The dot tends to get flat after a while. I’m worried if the sizes will still be the same as the old one,” she said.
“When they first announced there would be a tactile feature, I thought the number five would be written on it in braille. That was wishful thinking.”
She also highlighted the inaccessibility of many modern systems used in monetary transactions. “Button machines are hard enough because they don’t speak but screens are even harder. If they don’t speak or have a tactile cue, they’re impossible to use.”
While Vision Australia General Manager of Advocacy and Engagement Karen Knight praised the introduction of the new currency, she flagged the hurdles in the heavy reliance on touch screen technology when it does not facilitate appropriate usage options for blind of visually impaired individuals.
She said they’re not against the idea of smart banking but the blind and low vision community should not be put in a position where they have to hand over their personal information or rely on another person to help them complete a transaction.