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. 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.

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. 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. Martin Stewart

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”.