BW ONLINE DAILY BRIEFING

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY by John M. Williams	February 24, 1999

NOT ENOUGH INFO. O'Connell smiles when she speaks of her efforts. Shortly after she joined Crestar, the company paid for her to take sign-language classes. Soon, she began meetings with people from the deaf community. She asked them to critique the good, the bad, and the ugly of banking services for a deaf person. One of the most common answers Meg received was there wasn't enough information in a format the deaf could readily understand. She tried an identical outreach approach with other disability groups.

The result: Crestar is now offering:
--A 24 hour TTY/TDD line, which provides written information over a phone line that can be read on the other end on a liquid-crystal display or as a printout. A deaf or speech-impaired consumer can open an account, apply for a loan, or have any questions answered regarding their account or other services provided by the bank. The number is 800 445-8164.

--Educational videos using American Sign Language (ASL), open captioning, and voiceovers explaining banking basics, investment services, and home buying.

--Audiotapes with information on types of accounts and services for the blind or visually impaired.

--Bank statements in Braille or on audiocassettes for blind consumers.

--Sign-language interpreter services for customers who sign.

While O'Connell is proud of the bank's accomplishments in these areas, she says plenty of work remains to be done. Talking about the bank's efforts to recruit applicants with disabilities, she says: "Our goal is to find the best person for the job, and often that includes individuals with disabilities who require accommodations. We know the special bond that exists between the person with a disability and the technology required to perform job tasks."

TELECOMMUTERS. The bank has hired 43 individuals with varying disabilities in the last 12 months. In looking for qualified people, O'Connell says the bank is working with the Virginia departments for the deaf and hard of hearing, the visually handicapped, and rehabilitative services, as well as the President's Committee on Employment for People with Disabilities.

Crestar is also developing telecommuting jobs for workers who can't get around so well. Four telecommuting employees with disabilities work as part of the bank's customer-service call center. The center answers questions about bank products and services and will provide services such as transferring funds from one account to another.

For telecommuting employees, the bank provides personal computers, a modem, telephone, surge protector, headset adapter, and other general office supplies. A disabled worker is given the tools needed to do the job.

O'Connell is a realist. As banking services become more computerized, she says Crestar will have to stay on top of assistive technology to continue providing better services to customers with disabilities. She believes that as the bank grows, more people with disabilities will take note of Crestar's policies and become customers.

"Every customer to us is a valued customer," says O'Connell. "And so the investment we make in technology to attract disabled customers and in training our employees to work well with disabled customers will comeback many fold." I think she's on to something. p>

Williams writes a bi-weekly column on the benefits of assistive technology to disabled people and businesses. He can be reached as JMMAW@AOL.COM

EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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