Diebold's Industrial Design Team Brings Self-Service to People of All Abilities

Diebold's Dave Barker knows October is World Blindness Awareness Month. But he doesn't need the global observance to appreciate the needs of people who are blind. That's because Barker has spent every day for the last 15 years working to make Diebold products more accessible for people with disabilities.

Barker is a principal strategist specializing in human factors for Diebold, one of the world's largest manufacturers of automated teller machines (ATMs). As a member of Diebold's industrial design team, Barker's role is to ensure Diebold products are accessible to people of all abilities.

"Many people don't realize industrial design focuses as much on the usability of products as it does on the appearance of those products," Barker said. "Our industrial design team works to make sure all people, regardless of their abilities, can easily use Diebold products. That's why we pay so much attention to human factors and accessibility."

Before Diebold launched its new Opteva family of ATMs in 2003, Barker and the entire design team worked closely with representatives from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). The goal of the collaboration was to ensure that people who are blind would be able to easily and comfortably use the machines. Barker said organizations like the NFB are crucial to design decisions.

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