The American Disabilities Act ratifications were described broadly in legal terms. Entities offering public access to handicapped individuals were extremely confused over how much to inverts in special access facilities, and the time-frame in which they would be allowed to make changes.

As a product develops for a major NYC bank, I had to help decide where initial wheel-chairs ramps, Braille touch-pads, and voice-aided ATMs would be installed.

The decision required demographic analysis of various neighborhood (e.g. population, handi-capped population{various handicaps},ATM usage per se, and the nature of the physical plant- the branch).

While wanting to do our very best for the handi-capped, we also had to be cognizant of the enormous capital outlay on the part of the bank, as well as compliance to the law, which was ill-understood.

Question # 8: Can we simulate or model the situation?

With regard to technology and market research the answer is not just yes -it must be done. Both software and ergonomics have to be tested in hands-on situations, e.g. an alpha test conducted with both likely and non--likely users of service. If you a specific variable for the service is in question, it must me isolated via a control group.