ATM for the visually impaired opens in UAE

Good news for the visually impaired who need to transact with an automated teller machine (ATM) in the Middle East: the first ATM for them has been opened in the United Arab Emirates. The new ATM, opened by the Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) near University City in Sharjah, allows the visually impaired to complete a transaction unassisted. A report on the Gulf News said the new ATM features a large Braille keypad in both Arabic and English, a high resolution screen, and voice-assisted interface in both languages, which could be heard through speakers or headphones. It also has three security cameras to ensure the user’s safety, the report added. “The ATM is very effective and it enables me to be completely independent and complete my money transaction alone without any assistance and so provides me with privacy and security,” Gulf News quoted Awatef Ahmad Akbari, head of internal operations at Tamkeen, a training center for the visually impaired in Dubai, as saying. Akbari is visually impaired, the report said. Adel Al Zamar, Vice Chairman of Emirates Association for the Blind, said banking services had been a long-standing need for the visually-impaired. He said the new ATM is “very accessible and easy to use,” adding the Association’s 150 to 200 expect to benefit from the new ATM. Gulf News said the new ATM is so far the first and only blind-friendly one in the region. Abdullah said they are planning to put more machines across the UAE after they get feedback from visually impaired users so they can refine it. Security Computer Network Systems (CNS), Wincor Nixdorf’s agent in the UAE. Ayman Basha, a representative for Computer Network Systems – the UAE agent of Wincor Nixdorf - assured the ATM had the same security measures dictated by the Central Bank and followed by regular ATMs worldwide. Basha said that while there are similar ATMs in the US and Germany, this one has the latest technology. “The ATM provides the visually impaired user with speed, security, privacy and ease,” he said. Phone call SIB CEO Mohammad Abdullah said the project stemmed from a phone call from renowned visually-impared Emirati Lawyer Manar Al Hammadi to Sharjah radio and TV’s “Direct Line” program. The lawyer had complained that banks do not have facilities for the blind. — TJD, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more