Tactile Identifiers and the "Kyoyo-Hin" Card

By Joseph Naujokas, Naujokas & Associates

Tactile Identifiers (TIs) are a physical means of determining the orientation of a card, front and top so that a blind person may determine by touch or feel how to insert the card into a card reader.

The issue from a standards view has been around since at least 1991. Attempts to provide a reasonable standard have not really been successful. ISO/SC17 JTC1 WG1 wrestled with the issue during the development of the thin flexible card standard, ISO/IEC 15457-1. The result was an "Informative Annex" that identified an area on the right hand lower corner that could receive an undefined notch on either the lower or side edge.

CEN has been wrestling with a standard since around 1991 and has not achieved consensus either. ENV 1332-2 has been completed but the V designation means its on voluntary, essentially "informative" in ISO parlance.

Notches have problems and are not well accepted by anyone. Some reasons why obtaining consensus on notches is difficult:

• Interferences with card processing equipment
• Difficulty with variety of die shapes
• Must be done at point of manufacture
• Concerns that permissible notches cannot be felt by the cardholder.

At the October 2000 meeting of WG1, Japan demonstrated the "Kyoyo-hin" card that uses a "self mark" concept for TI. "Kyoyo-Hin" is a Japan foundation dedicated to providing services designed to be used by as many people as possible including the elderly and those with disabilities.

The "self mark" is a pattern of embossed dots located in the embossed name & address area using either Braille letters or special patterns for non-Braille users. In Braille, the self mark may contain the type of card, cardholder's initials or other information. Non- Braille users may have special patterns embossed for identifying the type of card. The specific requests by the cardholder are made in the application for the card. So, an important advantage here is the TI is placed on the card at the point of issue, for those who need it, and in their desired format.

The embossed self mark is located in the right hand side of the "Name and Address (Area 2)" embossing zone. This places the TI right on the logo and hologram of many credit card issuers. This is not seen as a problem because the self mark is only used for cardholders that need the facility.

At the March 2003 SC17 WG1 meeting, Japan announced its intention to submit a New Work Proposal for the self mark TI as an ISO/IEC standard. They are collaborating with CEN and UK's Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The self mark concept is the best solution for the following reasons:

• It is applied on finished cards when they are personalized, and has no affect on the manufacturing process
• Besides the TI function, it also provides a means of discerning different card function, (Credit, ATM, etc.)
• Uses existing equipment to implement the mark
• Can be tailored to individual cardholder's requirements
• Does not add any burden to normal cards.

Placing a TI on the card does not solve the problem entirely. The card accepting systems also need alteration to solve other difficulties that blind and disabled face when using the financial transaction systems. Getting the card fixed is only the first step.