🎙️ Remarkable World Commentary Episode #54: The Self Checkout Sword | Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA
https://donnajodhan.com/rwc-10-01-2025-A/
In this thoughtful episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan examines what she calls "the self checkout sword", a double edged shift in retail in which companies cut costs by installing self checkout kiosks while people who rely on cashier roles lose vital income. She asks who benefits and who is left out, and she urges listeners to weigh convenience and savings against the human and social costs.
Donna also spotlights the accessibility gap. Seniors often struggle with touchscreens, and many people with disabilities, herself included, find these kiosks unusable. She shares a practical workaround: request a cashier or supervisor and state that the kiosk is not accessible. She calls for a true equal playing field built through accessible design from the start, and she invites feedback and ongoing dialogue.
TRANSCRIPT
Podcast Commentator: Greetings. Donna J Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA, invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast, Remarkable World Commentary. Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts, insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners. Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids, especially kids with disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate, author, site loss coach, dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast commentator. She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise in access technology and information. As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles, she just wants to make things better than possible. Impossible.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello there. I'm Donna, and welcome to my remarkable bi weekly world commentary for October. It's my first bi weekly world commentary for October. And for today I'd like to talk about the self checkout sword. This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. And as someone who continues to advocate for there to be a an equal playing field for everyone, I think it is important for me to voice my opinion about the self checkout sword. What do I mean by this? Well, with self checkout kiosks, companies definitely save on costs but at the same time, persons who depend on additional or extra income are deprived, and there are a lot of people who are being deprived of additional or extra income because with the self checkout kiosks, it means that they're less cashiers at the supermarket and at different stores. And so these people who depend on income as cashiers are deprived. So here we have the self checkout sword as I call it. Yeah. Companies are saving on costs because they're cutting down on manpower. But at the same time you have persons who depend on extra or additional income. They are being shut out of work. Okay. In addition to this, we have seniors and persons who depend on staff for assistance, because it is difficult for many seniors to negotiate and navigate those touch screens.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And for persons with disabilities, especially for someone like myself with a vision impairment, we cannot use those touch screens. So then what do we do? I'll tell you what I do. I go and find a cashier, or I go and find a supervisor, and I say to them very professionally, very gently, hey, I cannot use your self-checkout kiosk because it is not accessible and it is not usable. So this is a third reason for the self-checkout sword, as I call it. Okay. I wonder if there has been enough thought put into self-checkout kiosks. Who do these kiosks affect? What are the benefits? Okay, yes, the benefits are to companies, but the disadvantages are to persons who depend on extra or additional income as cashiers. And it is a disadvantage, a huge disadvantage to seniors who cannot use touch screens, and to persons with disabilities who cannot use touch screens. So this is my take on the self checkout sword for this week. I'm Donna Jodhan, wishing you a great day and look forward to seeing you the next time. Bye for now.
Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at Donna Jodhan at gmail.com. Until next time.
