Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #54: The Self Checkout Sword

Transcript

Remarkable World Commentary Episode #54: The Self Checkout Sword · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

• 0:13
  Podcast Commentator: Greetings. Donna J Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA,
• 0:19
  invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast,
• 0:22
  Remarkable World Commentary.
• 0:24
  Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts,
• 0:27
  insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners.
• 0:31
  Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids,
• 0:35
  especially kids with disabilities.
• 0:38
  Donna is a blind advocate, author, site loss coach,
• 0:42
  dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur,
• 0:45
  law graduate, and podcast commentator.
• 0:49
  She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge,
• 0:53
  skills, and expertise in access technology and information.
• 0:58
  As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles,
• 1:02
  she just wants to make things better than possible.
• 1:05
  Impossible.
• 1:07
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello there. I'm Donna, and welcome to my remarkable bi weekly world
• 1:14
  commentary for October.
• 1:17
  It's my first bi weekly world commentary for October.
• 1:24
  And for today I'd like to talk about the self checkout sword.
• 1:32
  This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart.
• 1:37
  And as someone who continues to advocate for there to be a an equal playing
• 1:46
  field for everyone, I think it is important for me to voice my opinion about the self
• 1:54
  checkout sword. What do I mean by this?
• 1:59
  Well, with self checkout kiosks, companies definitely save on costs
• 2:09
  but at the same time, persons who depend on additional or extra
• 2:17
  income are deprived, and there are a lot of people who are being deprived of additional
• 2:26
  or extra income because with the self checkout kiosks,
• 2:31
  it means that they're less cashiers at the supermarket and at different stores.
• 2:38
  And so these people who depend on income as cashiers are deprived.
• 2:46
  So here we have the self checkout sword as I call it.
• 2:51
  Yeah. Companies are saving on costs because they're cutting down on manpower.
• 2:58
  But at the same time you have persons who depend on extra or additional income.
• 3:05
  They are being shut out of work.
• 3:08
  Okay. In addition to this, we have seniors and persons who depend
• 3:18
  on staff for assistance, because it is difficult for many seniors to
• 3:24
  negotiate and navigate those touch screens.
• 3:28
  And for persons with disabilities, especially for someone like myself with a
• 3:32
  vision impairment, we cannot use those touch screens.
• 3:36
  So then what do we do?
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  I'll tell you what I do.
• 3:41
  I go and find a cashier, or I go and find a supervisor,
• 3:45
  and I say to them very professionally, very gently,
• 3:50
  hey, I cannot use your self-checkout kiosk because it is not accessible and it is not
• 3:58
  usable. So this is a third reason for the self-checkout sword,
• 4:05
  as I call it. Okay. I wonder if there has been enough thought put into
• 4:15
  self-checkout kiosks. Who do these kiosks affect?
• 4:22
  What are the benefits?
• 4:24
  Okay, yes, the benefits are to companies, but the disadvantages are to persons who
• 4:31
  depend on extra or additional income as cashiers.
• 4:36
  And it is a disadvantage, a huge disadvantage to seniors who cannot use
• 4:42
  touch screens, and to persons with disabilities who cannot use touch screens.
• 4:50
  So this is my take on the self checkout sword for this week.
• 4:56
  I'm Donna Jodhan, wishing you a great day and look forward to seeing you the next time.
• 5:04
  Bye for now.
• 5:08
  Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at Donna Jodhan at gmail.com.
• 5:15
  Until next time.