Hong Kong's Lok Chau Station Equipped With Electronic Immigration Clearance Channel

01 Oct 2013

Thanks to the new Electronic Immigration Clearance Channel, Hong Kong’s Lok Ma Chau Station can now help visually impaired people to easily clear themselves for departure.

An Immigration Department spokesperson said that visually impaired people can now go to the voice-navigated e-Channel installed at the Departure Hall. They can reach the e-Channel by following the tactile guide path from either the Public Transport Interchange or the MTR platform.

Pressing the activation button which is located above the identity card insertion slot will activate the voice navigation function and then the system will give necessary voice instructions guiding the passenger through each and every step of the clearance process.

Apart from the voice navigation function, the e-Channel is also equipped with Braille tags next to the identity card insertion slot, the fingerprint scanner and the activation button for the convenience of the visually impaired people.

This project, which cost HK$570,000 (US$73,500), was made possible through a collaborative effort for more than a year with associations for the visually impaired.

Corrado Chow, Assistant Director of the Department Information Systems said that the Lok Ma Chau control point was chosen as the 1^st testing point as it has newer facilities and a more spacious environment.

Chow said that they will study further about how this could be enforced to other control points as well.

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