Monitoring eAccessibility in Europe: 2011 Annual Report
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- ATMs
- Vending machines
- Virtual kiosks
- Public announcement systems
Urban environmentThis category addresses technologies in the domain of self service terminals (ATMs, vending machines and virtual kiosks) and other kinds of technology (announcement systems) which have in common that they are located in public places in the urban environment (e.g. train stations). Before describing the technologies included in this category it is necessary to point out that there are increasingly fewer differences between self-service terminals such as ATMs, vending machines and virtual kiosks as regards design and functionalities. For example, some banks are deploying ATMs that also function as information or ticket kiosks. Figure . Status of urban environment accessibility in EU and non-EU countries
Figure . Status of urban environment accessibility, by country Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages The level of accessibility of the urban environment in the total number of countries studied in the European Union is medium-low, reaching 38%. Highest implementation level of practices identified with the urban environment is in the Czech Republic (60%) and UK (51%), with seven more EU countries reaching a medium level of accessibility, while the lowest levels of accessibility are in Greece (20%), Germany and Hungary (21%). Urban environment in the EU is less accessible than in the non EU reference countries referred to in this study. The average in those countries stands at 47%, nine points higher than in the EU. The non EU reference country in which urban environment reaches the highest degree of accessibility is Canada (72%), and the lowest is United States (39%). The average for the 17 countries surveyed, the 13 European Union members and four non-EU countries considered jointly, is 40% (medium accessibility), with only Canada standing out with a high level of accessibility. Regarding the urban environment-related technologies analysed (ATMs, vending machines, virtual kiosks and public announcement systems), in general, countries have devoted less effort to the development of accessible vending machines than to the other technologies considered. Table . Status of Urban environment
Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages ATMsATMs are one of the main ICTs used by the banking sector to provide services to their clients. ATMs are nowadays evolving from their old function as mere money dispensers towards a wider concept including other financial services, as well as serving as public access terminals to a range of products and services. Users may face a range of barriers when using an ATM. For example, a blind person may need the support of audio menus to interact (i.e. talking ATMs) or wheelchair users may have difficulties if the terminal is positioned too high. Figure . Status of ATM accessibility in EU and non-EU countries Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages Figure . Status of ATM accessibility, by country Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages The level of accessibility of ATMs in the EU is medium, the average among the countries surveyed being 48%. Highest implementation level of practices related to ATMs is identified in Italy (89%), Sweden (67%) and Portugal (80%), considered high accessibility levels. The lowest levels of accessibility are in Greece (3% compliance) and Germany (6%). ATMs in the EU are less accessible than in the non EU reference countries. The average in these countries stands at 74%, 26 points higher than in the EU. The non EU reference country in which ATMs achieve the highest level of accessibility is Canada (97%), while the lowest level is found in United States (61%), although this is higher than the EU average. For the 17 countries surveyed, the 13 European Union members and four from outside the EU considered jointly, the average is 55% (medium accessibility). The five countries that stand out with the highest levels of accessibility of ATMs are Canada, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Australia. Regarding the indicators on the level of accessibility of ATMs, the following were considered: provision of customer in general, the level of compliance with the volume of customer information about accessible ATMs implemented is medium (56%). Only in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal do both leading retail banks provide full information about built-in accessibility features of own products/services and on accessibility specific needs and/or accessible products/services addressed to groups of customers with specific disabilities. Regarding the number of ATMs accessible to wheelchair users or talking ATMs deployed by the main retail banks, the average percentage for EU countries is low-medium. Only the Portuguese and Swedish banks deployed a very high percentage of talking ATMs, while in Denmark, France, Hungary and Italy the percentage of talking ATMs deployed by the main banks is medium. The number of ATMs accessible to wheelchair users is even lower in the EU countries, with only medium deployment in Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Portugal. It is noteworthy that some countries have not provided information about the number of ATMs accessible to wheelchair users or talking ATMs, which influences in the results and the comparison among countries. Deployment of talking ATMs is higher outside the European Union than in the EU countries, although it is still medium. The deployment of ATMs accessible to wheelchair users is high, mainly because of the spread of this kind of ATMs in Canada and Norway, where their main national retail banks seem to deploy all their ATMs with this feature. There is no information provided by the US expert regarding the number of ATMs accessible to wheelchair users. Table . Status of ATM accessibility12
Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages Vending machinesA vending machine can be defined as “a device aimed for the self service sale or provision of goods and/or services that can be operated by inserting a coin, a bank note, a token, a chip or other card/key or by other commands. This does not cover entertainment and gambling machines”. The main function of vending machines is therefore to sell products (e.g. drinks, food, snacks, etc.). This status of vending machine accessibility was studied by analysing the following two indicators:
Figure . Status of vending machine accessibility in EU and non-EU countries Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages Figure . Status of vending machine accessibility, by country Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages The level of accessibility of vending machines in the EU is very low, the average among the countries surveyed being 24%. Of the 17 countries studied, the 13 European Union members and four from outside the EU considered jointly, only the Czech Republic reaches a high level of accessibility (89%), followed by Sweden (39%), while the remaining countries have low levels of accessibility. Regarding the provision of accessibility information by the two main vending machine manufacturers in the country on their websites, it is noteworthy that in no country do the manufacturers provide clear and full information about built-in accessibility features of own products/services and on accessibility specific needs and/or accessible products/services addressed to groups of customers with specific disabilities except Czech Republic (94%). Only Spain, Italy and Sweden (28%) provide some kind of information, although not enough to reach a medium level. Only the main vending machines manufacturers of Czech Republic normally supply vending machines with Braille labelling, while in Denmark, Sweden and UK, the manufacturers supply some of their vending machines with this feature. Table . Status of vending machine accessibility
Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages Virtual kiosksVirtual kiosks are self service terminals whose main function is to provide access to information and a variety of services (in self-service mode). The main difference between virtual kiosks and vending machines is that the latter only requires a commercial transaction to obtain a physical product, whereas virtual kiosks commonly focus on electronic services (e.g. internet access, digital photo printing, tourist information, ticketing, etc.) that require user interaction with information and can be for both free and pay services. The virtual kiosks focused on were those used for ticketing at transport stations (train/bus/airports), since this covers a main functionality (i.e. mobility) in the urban environment. Regarding the indicators on which the calculation on the level of accessibility of virtual kiosks was based, the following were considered: the volume of accessibility information about virtual ticketing kiosks implemented by the main transportation companies, talking virtual ticketing kiosks deployed and virtual ticketing kiosks accessible to wheelchair users deployed. Figure . Status of virtual kiosk accessibility in EU and non-EU countries
Figure Status of virtual kiosk accessibility, by country Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages The level of accessibility of virtual kiosks in the EU is medium, the average among the countries surveyed being 41%. Highest implementation level of practices related to virtual kiosks is identified in Netherlands, the only country with a high level of accessibility (78% compliance), followed by Germany and UK (both 57%), with seven other countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden) having medium levels of accessibility in this category. The lowest levels of accessibility are in Italy (16% compliance), and Hungary (22%) and France (23%). The Netherlands is the only EU country in which both main transportation companies provide full accessible information about built-in accessibility features of virtual ticketing kiosks. In four other EU countries, Germany, Portugal, Spain and UK, there is also a medium level of accessibility information provided by the transportation companies about their virtual ticketing kiosks. Of the EU countries surveyed, only in the Ireland and UK do both main transportation companies provide talking features for all or almost all their virtual ticketing kiosks. In Denmark, Germany, Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands, the main transportation companies only provide talking features in some of their virtual ticketing kiosks. Likewise, only in five EU countries, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, are all or almost all the virtual ticketing kiosks deployed by the two main transportation companies accessible to wheelchair users. In five other countries, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Sweden and UK, the main transportation companies make some of their virtual ticketing kiosks accessible to wheelchair users. Virtual kiosks in the EU are more accessible than in the non EU reference countries considered in this study. The average in these countries stands at 32%, nine points lower than in the EU. The non EU reference country in which virtual kiosks have the highest level of accessibility is Canada (43%), while the lowest level is found in Australia (15%). The average for the 17 countries surveyed, the 13 European Union members and four from outside the EU considered jointly, is 39% (medium accessibility). Only Netherlands stands out with a high level of accessibility of virtual kiosks. In general, the level of compliance with the indicators is medium, except for the accessibility information about virtual ticketing kiosks implemented, which is low (32% in EU and 11% in non EU countries). Table . Status of virtual kiosk accessibility
Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages Public announcement systemsUnlike the previous technologies, these are not self service terminals. Public announcement systems are technologies used to provide information in public places (e.g. museums or transport facilities as airports, bus and train stations) both in audio (e.g. public address systems) and video (e.g. digital display panels) modes. Figure Status of public announcement systems accessibility in EU and non-EU countries Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages Figure . Status of public announcement systems accessibility, by country Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages The level of accessibility of public announcement systems in the total number of countries studied in the European Union is medium, at 39%. Highest implementation level of practices identified with public announcement systems is in Ireland and in the UK (69%, high accessibility), with five more countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands) having medium levels of accessibility. The lowest levels of accessibility are in Germany and Portugal (both with 10% compliance). In three EU countries (Spain, the Netherlands and Cezh Republic) the busiest bus and train stations and airports have fully implemented info-accessibility plans. In Greece, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and UK, the level of development of information accessibility plans is high or medium. However, Germany and Portugal have hardly developed accessibility plans at the busiest transportation facilities analysed. In the UK and Ireland, there are induction loops at all main transportation facilities and in two other EU countries, Denmark and France, there are some induction loops at the main transportation facilities. Public announcement systems in the EU are less accessible than in the non EU reference countries referred to in this study. The average in those countries stands at 62%, 23 points higher than in the EU. The non EU reference country in which public announcement systems reach the highest degree of accessibility is Canada (76%, high accessibility). The average for the 17 countries surveyed, the 13 European Union members and four non-EU countries considered jointly, is 45% (medium accessibility), with three countries standing out with high levels of accessibility (Canada, Ireland and UK). Regarding the two indicators on the level of accessibility of public announcement systems, info accessibility is higher than availability of induction loops (49% and 30% compliance respectively). Table . Status of public announcement systems accessibility
Source: Own elaboration, 2011. Unit: Percentages
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