Cash terminals enabling persons with visual disabilities to make payments independently

Adyen’s Accessible Payment Terminal Audio Solution lets visually impaired shoppers make independent, secure payments on PIN-on-glass and physical pinpad devices. It provides real-time text-to-speech in 25+ languages, can be triggered by headphone, button or API, is cloud-activatable and has been widely deployed since 2024.

In 2023, Adyen N. V. – a leading company in financial technology, headquartered in Amsterdam – began building the Accessible Payment Terminal Audio Solution as a standard on its hardware. In alignment with the European Accessibility Act (EAA), it ensures non-visual access to all key screens on the payment terminals, including presenting (credit) cards, tipping, PIN entry, and currency conversion. By 2025, this feature had been implemented on 7,000+ terminals and was available to be enabled on 410,000+ devices worldwide based on merchant readiness.

Problems Targeted

Both touchscreen and physical pinpad payment devices, which are increasingly used in kiosk, retail, and hospitality to pay any type of service, are inaccessible to customers who cannot use touch screen or read a screen display.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

Adyen’s Accessible Payment Terminal Audio Solution enables users with visual disabilities to independently and securely complete transactions on payment terminals with both PIN-on-glass interfaces and physical pinpad devices. The system provides non-visual access to all critical payment steps, including card presentation, tipping, PIN entry, and Dynamic Currency Conversion. The EAA acted as both a catalyst and a guiding framework for its development. The solution was developed in cooperation with experts from Vispero, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and Funka, as well as leading NGOs and businesses worldwide. It combines real-time text-to-speech guidance in 25+ languages with intuitive interaction methods, such as swipe-and-tap PIN entry and auditory and visual feedback. The Accessibility Mode can be triggered seamlessly through headphone insertion, an on-screen button, or merchant-side API integration, ensuring usability without disrupting standard transaction flows. Launched in 2024, this accessibility feature has been deployed across all of Adyen’s devices that use Android as its operating system in 45 countries and regions. By mid-2025, over 7,000 terminals with accessibility mode were operational, and can be activated on 410,000 devices in 50 countries.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

In markets where Adyen has not yet launched, the accessibility feature is ready for deployment as soon as the terminals become available. The configuration is cloud-based and can be activated remotely. A tactile screen protector following RNIB’s bezel-dots standard to further improve orientation for blind users on PIN-on-glass devices is currently developed. (#ZeroCall26)

Pictures