I have essential tremor. I’ve had it all my life. Not a disaster, but a daily challenge. Carrying a full cup of coffee from the bar to the table with shaking hands is a sporting event. I rarely reach the finish line without spilling.
This week I had to renew my ID at the municipality. New fingerprints were required. That turned into a small adventure. My fingers didn’t do what the scanner expected. Fortunately, the clerk was patient and helpful. We got there in the end. Whether the people in line behind me enjoyed the experience as much as we did, I doubt it.
The real problem starts afterward. In the digital world
Try staying a bank customer with trembling hands. Signing in to Triodos became an obstacle course. Endless steps, countless photos of my ID, and then the finale: selfies. Left, right, center. Again. Again. Not sharp. Not in the frame. Too blurry. Back to the start. No access to your money. Why does it have to be so difficult? Why do I have to keep proving I exist to organizations that have known me for thirty years? It’s my money. Yet I still can’t access it.
Is this progress?
More and more basic services like banking, taxes, government are disappearing behind a wall of apps, verification steps, and digital acrobatics. Anyone without a steady hand, the latest smartphone, or top-level digital skills is left behind. Young or old, tech-savvy or not, it doesn’t matter. The bar keeps rising for anyone who doesn’t fit the perfect digital mold.
The bitter irony is that these systems are sold as safe and efficient. But security without accessibility is exclusion. Efficiency without a human touch is bureaucracy in a trendy jacket.
Technology should help people. Not test people
Why isn’t there a simple alternative route? A counter. A phone number. A staff member who says, “We’ll sort it out together.” Why do we design systems for perfect hands and perfect smartphones when we know the world is full of imperfect people?
Digital inclusion is not a luxury. It is a basic condition for participating in society. The question is simple: are we building a society for people, or for apps?
Walther Ploos van Amstel