Blind customers shut out by touchscreen payment terminals in shops
Riikka Hänninen went to buy food for her guide dog. At the checkout, she found she had no way to pay.
A blind woman in Helsinki, Riikka Hänninen, faced difficulties paying for food for her guide dog at a local pet shop because the payment terminal lacked a keypad. The issue is not isolated; Hänninen encounters this problem several times a month. Touchscreen card readers have become prevalent in shops and restaurants, causing inconvenience for blind customers.
Some store clerks have even suggested using their PIN, a proposal Hänninen dismissed, citing safety concerns. Despite an EU accessibility directive coming into effect in June 2025 requiring accessibility in card payment terminals, older terminals still in use can't be altered to meet these standards. Finland, home to about 55,000 visually impaired individuals, including 9,000 blind people, faces this accessibility issue.
The pet-supply chain Musti and Mirri has responded by scrapping touchscreen-only card machines in their shops and apologizing for the inconvenience. Hänninen, however, remains critical, labeling these touchscreen-only machines as discriminatory and calls for companies to take responsibility for accessibility.
Written by urgent.news from Yle News Finland's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
