Albert makes me anxious: Why touchscreen eftpos can be a 'nightmare' AKA ubabaikaji wa wapofu tunaposaka hela.

Many Blind persons all over the world are  not able to use the new Albert eftpos machines because they have no keypads. To set an example, in Australia Martin Stewart wanted to pay his bills. Read more: The evening began so well, with dinner at a local Indian restaurant for his daughter’s birthday. But when it came time to pay, Martin Stewart got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Mr Stewart – who describes himself as “totally blind” – realised the only way he could settle the bill was using an “Albert” eftpos machine – the Commonwealth Bank's tablet-style units that are increasingly widespread, with more than 88,000 across Australia. People who are blind or vision-impaired say these units are not accessible because the smooth glass screen doesn’t have a keypad. This makes it almost impossible for them to “orientate” their fingers and enter their PIN, leaving them with no option but to divulge it to another person to enter on their behalf, often a stranger. And the wide-scale proliferation of touch-screen devices – used in everything from ATM machines to shopping centre directories – discriminates against a vulnerable group of people, advocates say. Mr Stewart didn’t want his daughter to know the cost of her birthday dinner, which was more than $100 and couldn’t be tapped. So he had to reveal his pin to the restaurant waiter, the first time he had ever done this with a stranger. “I hated doing it but what other way was there? I divulged my pin number which is extremely unwise. I felt insecure and deprived of privacy. It's a bit of a nightmare.” Mr Stewart said. In Kenya I  know there is a  major challenge of even having the Atm card. It took me almost 20 years of advocacy to get ATM card. I  had to promise to sue one of the local banks in order for them to surrender my right to me. Blind Citizens Australia, the peak body for people who are blind or vision-impaired, has been locked in an 18-month (and ultimately unsuccessful) negotiation with the Commonwealth Bank Australia, after lodging a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission about the Albert eftpos machines. This is a  great lesson for my fellow Blind persons in Kenya. For us to get financial freedoms we need to speak with one voice and ensure we are able to forward our petisions to the Kenya national human rights commision. Emma Bennison, the peak body's chief executive, has first-hand experience of using the Albert machines, including the five-minute audio “accessibility tutorial” that is supposed to help blind and vision-impaired people use the unit. It is not a good solution, Ms Bennison said. Retailers need to know how to switch the accessibility tutorial on, and many don’t. Without headphones the tutorial is difficult to hear, and the only time she has been able to listen to it in full was when there wasn’t a queue of customers behind her. “I felt completely disempowered and incredibly anxious because I felt like I was being observed, by a whole lot of people, and was holding up the queue,” Ms Bennison said. You can imagine the nairobi traffic and am there in one of the queue and what can happen next! We need to ensure banks have appropriate universal design which can not compromise our security of our well earned money. Ms Bennison says the Commonwealth Bank should stop distributing Albert devices until they are able to include numeric keypads that can be used by touch. Retailers can help by returning their Albert units and asking for a device that has a keypad. I divulged my pin number which is extremely unwise. I felt insecure and deprived of privacy. It's a bit of a nightmare. To the Kenyan banks they need to ensure the voice input capacity is enhanced with the current keyboards since most have not graduated to Albert units. t When ATMs were introduced, they weren’t accessible, and it took years of fighting to bring in standards in the banking sectors for the now-ubiquitous machines. There have been universal guidelines around touchpads for years, including that the “5” always has a dimple on it, says Jonathon Hunyor, the head of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, which was involved in the discrimination complaint. His clients are now considering whether to pursue the matter in the federal court. They are disappointed they might have to litigate to get access to the same services that most people take for granted, he said. “Litigation for us is a last resort because it’s risky and expensive and draining. For ordinary citizens to take on one of the big banks is no small thing,” Mr Hunyor said. A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Bank said making new technologies, like touchscreens, accessible to people who are blind or have low vision represents an “industry-wide challenge”. “We worked collaboratively with both our technology partners, accessibility specialists and individuals with a range of vision loss, including Vision Australia, to deliver the current accessibility solution on Albert,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Mr Stewart, who lost an arm and a leg in a train accident, said he already feels vulnerable without having to worry about someone listening in as he divulges personal information. “You have no idea how much I now have to deal with. The area of finance is usually where security is paramount. I confess God has helped many of the Blind Kenyans not to be conned but this doesn't mean that there are no reported cases. its prudent for blind oriented organizations to rise up and unite for a course of financil freedom for the blind and ensure access to service becomes a right not just the banks to decide what soots them.