Wheelchair-bound Guy Moshe and Eitan Negev, who is blind, moved around the Bank Leumi branch in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, excited. The reason: This is the first bank branch in Israel which is disabled-friendly. The two examined the width of the corridors, height of the counters, touched the elevators' buttons, tried the new sound-activated tellers, and withdrew cash from the ATM.
The branch services include a specially designed teller for people in wheelchairs, a Braille-operated elevator, and an ATM fitted for a person in a wheelchair that is also voice-activated.
"We cooperate with the Association of Banks in Israel to jointly build more disabled-friendly branches throughout the country," said Yuval Vagner, chairman of Access Israel.
"There is no doubt that a business that enables the disabled population to receive services and purchase goods enjoys higher volume of business."
According to Access Israel data, the Israeli banking industry is the leader in terms of disabled accessibility, with about 120 branches providing services for this population. Following the banks on the equality spectrum are malls and gas stations. Lagging behind are movie theaters and cafes. The worst are government institutions which, despite the fact they are supposed to provide services for the entire population, are slow to adjust their structures and services to the needs of the tens of thousands disabled citizens.
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