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<p class="MsoNormal">At the August NFBMA board meeting, in the transportation update from Debby, it was pointed out that the MBTA now offers the ability to use digital wallets to use at fare card readers on buses and at subway stations. This essentially means
that you can tap your iPhone, Apple watch, or other device against the fare reader to gain access to the ride. In other words, besides tapping your physical plastic Charliecard you now have the option to tap your smarpphone or watch in addition to the physical
plastic Charlie card.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I looked in to this yesterday, and wanted to give those interested an initial set of instructions to get started with the process. I imagine the instructions and explanations will get clearer as more experience is gained with the system.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h1>Prerequisites: Setting up your Apple Wallet<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is important to first understand that the MBTA does not currently use the direct transit card feature found in the Apple wallet application. If you open the Wallet app on your iPhone, click Add Card, you will notice that there is an
option to add a Transit Card. The MBTA does not use this feature. There is no way you can currently add an MBTA Charlie Card by using the add transit card option. This feature is used by other transit agencies such as in Washington DC or San Francisco.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You also need to obtain the Charlie card number from your plastic Blind Access card. There are two sets of numbers printed on the card, and the number you will need begins with five dash.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You also need to already have or add a debit or credit card from a financial institution to your Apple wallet app. If you are already using Apple pay, then you already have this setup. If you open the wallet app on an iPhone, you can see
what if any debit or credit cards are already setup. If you need to add a card, you can tap Add Card, then Debit or Credit Card.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you complete this step, then your Apple wallet app will essentially have a debit card or credit card from your bank or credit card company. For example from Bank of America, Amex, Chase, etc. There may also be an option to use the
Apple cash feature for this, but this is an edge case that may not be a typical way most people would set this up.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you have a card setup in your Wallat app:<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">In the wallet app tap on the card that you want to use. For example, Bank of America, Amex, etc.<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">Tap on the more button<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">Tap on card details<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">Ensure that Express Transit is turned on for the card you are working with.<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In order to proceed further, you will need:<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">To have a debit or credit card setup in your wallet app on your iPhone or Apple watch or both for use with Apple pay; and<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">To have the associated credit or debit card number, expiration date, and possibly 3 digit code on hand to use in subsequent steps in this process.<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">To have your MBTA Blind Access Charlie card number that starts with 5- which is imprinted on the physical plastic card.<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h1>Setting up a MBTA Charlie Account<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next step is to setup an MBTA Charlie account on the web. Even if you have had a My Charlie account in the past, you must setup a new account using the new in place platform the MBTA just launched.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The basic steps to do this are:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Access the MBTA Charlie web site at:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://charlie.mbta.com">https://charlie.mbta.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Click on or press enter on the link called Register for a Charlie Account<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Note if you do this from an iPhone type device, you may have to go through an audio CAPTCHA, but if you do it from a computer the process may be more streamlined.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will then fill out a couple of screens with demographic information about yourself.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You will then receive an email verification. You can either click the link in the email to verify and activate your Chahrlie account, or enter the verification code found in the email in to the web page you would already be on during the
setup process.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You may also notice once you log in that a sort of overlay dialog box appears for you to setup security questions on your account. You can either proceed to set thse up, or there is a close button to dismiss this dialog box.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you are logged in to your new Charlie account, you need to access a tool called the<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Charlie Digital Assistant<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, this tool may not appear as a clickable link, however, you can press enter on the line that says Charlie Digital Assistant, and the tool will open in your web browser.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Charlie digital assistant is an AI customer service chat tool that will walk you through the process of associating your MBTA Blind Access Charlie Card to your new online Charlie account. The automated chat assistant will ask you to
enter information such as your MBTA Blind Access Charlie card number which begins with a 5, your date of birth, etc.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the Charlie digital assistant will assist you in adding the digital wallet debit or credit card to your MBTA Charlie online account. Note that when you get to the step where you need to enter your debit or credit card details, there
is an imbedded link to a form that you need to click on to access a dialog box where you will enter your credit or debit card details. In other words, instead of entering these in the automated chat conversation, you need to access a link to a page that collects
this data while you are in the automated chat conversation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With in the Charlie digital assistant there may be some unlabeled buttons that you encounter. Also you will find that the digital assistant chat interface is at the bottom of your screen. You may need to go to the bottom of the screen and
go up in order to access the AI chat conversation that you are having with this Charlie digital assistant.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once you successfully complete this process, in your Charlie account, you will essentially have your debit or credit card, and it will be associated with your reduced fare Blind Access card.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You should also be aware this process is moderately complex, and there may be times when the focus is not clear as to where your screen reader is. There is a lot of ancillary information on the web pages that you have to navigate around
to get to the actual specific areas of the screens that you need to work with. You can think of it a little bit like accessing the main Amazon web page where there may be dozens or hundreds of links and other text, but its only a small subset of text and controls
that you are going to need to be working with, and you have to navigate and find those key areas on the screen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Its also possible that a service like Aira could complete this entire process with you if you prefer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From what I have read, the new MBTA Charlie ihn person service center in Boston may also be able to assist you with this process in person. However, I am not sure if they actually create Charlie accounts for customers in person at the service
center.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your plastic Blind Access Card will still work even if you activate this digital wallet feature.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would be interested to know if anyone else trys this and how you found the registration process.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I completed the registration process, but because my subway station was closed, I was not able to fully test yet if the digital wallet card works with my Blind Access card. There may be some initial provisioning that needs to take place
on the card before it works immediately as expected.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I mentioned, these instructions can only get better, but I wanted to put this out there for any fellow early tech adopters we might have in the membership!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mika<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">functionality.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<div dir="ltr" style="mso-line-height-rule:exactly;-webkit-text-size-adjust:100%;font-size:1px;direction:ltr;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:1px;color:#000001;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;white-space:normal;"><tr style="font-size:14.67px;white-space:nowrap;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family:remialcxesans;font-size:1px;color:#FFFFFF;line-height:1px;"><span style="font-family:'template-LgHyTiSVEeyYHwANOhMHOw';"></span><span style="font-family:'zone-1';"></span><span style="font-family:'zones-AQ';"></span></span><br /></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;font-weight:700;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">Mika Pyyhkala</td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">Dir. of Digital Accessibility - BVI Workforce Innovation Center</td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;font-weight:700;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">Envision, Inc.</td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">610 N. Main St.</td></tr><tr style="font-size:0;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:0;color:#000001;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;white-space:normal;"><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">Wichita</td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-size:0;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-size:0;color:#000001;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;white-space:normal;"><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="padding:0 3px 0 0;vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">, </td></tr></table></td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">Kansas</td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"> <br /></td><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;">67203</td></tr></table></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight:700;">Direct:</span> <a href="tel:316-440-1573" target="_blank" id="LPlnk689713" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000001;">316-440-1573</a></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight:700;">Mobile:</span> <a href="tel:617-308-1114" target="_blank" id="LPlnk689713" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000001;">617-308-1114</a></td></tr><tr style="font-size:14.67px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.envisionus.com/" target="_blank" id="LPlnk689713" style="text-decoration:none;color:#000001;">www.envisionus.com</a><br /></td></tr><tr style="font-size:15px;font-weight:700;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"><br />Envision Mission: <span style="font-style:italic;font-weight:400;">To improve the quality of life and provide inspiration and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education and research.</span><br /></td></tr><tr style="font-size:11px;"><td align="left" style="vertical-align:top;font-family:Calibri,Arial,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#212529;font-family:ARIAL;">NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any attached files are confidential. The information is exclusively for the use of the individual or entity intended as the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, printing, reviewing, retention, disclosure, distribution or forwarding of the message or any attached file is not authorized and is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail message in error, please advise the sender by reply electronic mail immediately and permanently delete the original transmission, any attachments and any copies of this message from your computer system.<br /></span><br /></td></tr></table></div></body>
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