Watchdog urges Nonghyup to facilitate ATMs for blind

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's national human rights watchdog called
Monday on the state-run National Agricultural Cooperative Federation to upgrade
their automated teller machines (ATMs) to allow easier use by visibly-impaired
clients.

The machines set up by the cooperative, better known as Nonghyup, currently allow
support for clients with weak eyesight through on-screen zoom capability, but do
not offer differentiated voice directions and matching input numeric keypad
settings for those with total visual impairment, according to the National Human
Rights Commission of Korea.
Nonghyup, one of the world's largest cooperative banking organizations, said it
plans to oblige to the watchdog's recommendation by adding the functions on
newly-setup ATMs from now on.
The commission, however, pressed the cooperative to immediately address the
problem on some 4,000 machines currently in use, given the company's financial
capability to do so.
The commission deliberated on the matter after one of Nonghyup's clients with
zero visibility filed a complaint on the difficulty of using the ATM.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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