New ATM Design Standards

The US Department of Justice recently issued Design Standards for facilities including financial institutions ATMs. Section 220 of the 2010 Design Standards adds specific technical requirements for speech output, privacy, tactilely discernible output and output controls, display screens and Braille instructions. ATMs will be required to be speech enabled.

Institutions considering the purchase of new ATMs should consult the 2010 Design Standards either at the American with Disabilities Act home page or the Department of Justice website.

Although the standards are not yet mandatory, banks should check with ATM vendors for more information regarding future hardware and software requirements.