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Thread: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
Number of posts in this thread: 9 (In chronological order)
From: Paul R. Bohman
Date: Wed, Nov 29 2006 8:20AM
Subject: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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This post is admittedly off-topic as far as *web* accessibility is
concerned, but I found it very interesting that a judge recently ruled
that the U.S. currency system is illegal because blind people can't
tell the difference between the different bills (a $1 bill has the
same size, shape, and feel as a $100 bill).
http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/28/markets/treasury_ruling/index.htm?cnn=yes
I'm interested to know how they'll resolve this. Of course it will
have to go through a drawn out legal process on a national level
before anything actually happens, if anything. So far the ruling is
only on the state level in New York.
--
Paul R. Bohman
Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
George Mason University
From: Gareth Dart
Date: Wed, Nov 29 2006 8:40AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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Physical currency differentiation also introduces an extra level of security against forgery - it's one more production step that a forger has to copy.
(This parallels online security - phishing sites that I've viewed in the past with Firefox's HTML Tidy extension's accessibility validator turned on have invariably generated more errors than the real thing.)
Gareth Dart
Web Developer
Higher Education Statistics Agency
From: Michael R. Burks
Date: Wed, Nov 29 2006 8:50AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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I do not think it is on a state level at all.
" NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A federal judge has ruled that the U.S.
Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue
currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired
people."
It states that it is a federal judge. It is not an action by an individual
state. These things are confusing...
And it should be interesting...
Mike Burks
From: John Foliot
Date: Wed, Nov 29 2006 10:10AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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Paul R. Bohman wrote:
> This post is admittedly off-topic as far as *web* accessibility is
> concerned, but I found it very interesting that a judge recently
> ruled that the U.S. currency system is illegal because blind people
> can't tell the difference between the different bills (a $1 bill has
> the same size, shape, and feel as a $100 bill).
>
> http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/28/markets/treasury_ruling/index.htm?cnn=yes
>
FWIW, Canadian paper currency has a tactile indicator (similar to Braille)
embossed in the top right corner of the bills. Admittedly, after extensive
usage the embossing "wears down", but it remains relatively usable for some
time. Canadians also abandoned the $1.00 bill many years ago in favor of a
more durable $1.00 coin (there is also a $2.00 coin). All coinage is of
different sizing.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feature]
Other countries also use Braille/tactile indicators on their currency,
including Malaysia:
[http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=23&;pg=452&ac=22&security=1]
Canadian bills and Euro-dollars also have holographic strips that run the
full vertical length of the bill - these strips have a noticeable tactile
difference... Perhaps the placement of similar vertical strips, but at
various positioning could be considered ($1.00 has strip at far left edge,
$5.00 has strip 1/6 way in from the left, $10.00 = 1/5, etc.)
Image of Canadian currency:
http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/images/images&;downloads/currency.jpg
Image of Eurodollars: http://www.buyahouseinfrance.com/images/currency.jpg
Cheers!
JF
From: Gareth Dart
Date: Wed, Nov 29 2006 10:20AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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UK notes would have been more 'accessible' than they are, it seems, save that the RNIB, of all people, advised against braille.
Quoted from the Bank of England website at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/faqs.htm
Q What is on a banknote to help blind and partially sighted people identify the different denominations?
A Each denomination is a different size; the greater the value the larger the note. So a
From: Rob Unsworth
Date: Wed, Nov 29 2006 12:00PM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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On Wed, 29 Nov 2006, John Foliot wrote:
> Other countries also use Braille/tactile indicators on their currency,
> including Malaysia:
> [http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=23&;pg=452&ac=22&security=1]
Malaysia get their banknotes from the leader in banknote technology.
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/currency.html
Check the different shaped (dark patches) windows below the 10, 50 and on
the left bottom of the $5 note, they are clear plastic windows each note
has a different shaped window.
--
Regards, | Lions District 201 Q3
Rob Unsworth | IT & Internet Chairman
Ipswich, Australia | http://www.lionsq3.asn.au
-------------------------------------------------
From: Emma Duke-Williams
Date: Thu, Nov 30 2006 1:50AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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I used to live in Papua New Guinea - which also got its notes from the
Australian mint. They were quite plasticy & had a clear window in them
- they seemed far more "technological" than the UK notes that I'd left
behind. I think that they wore better too. I can't remember any
braille on them though, but given what others have said, they'd
probably got accessiblity features on them.
Emma
On 11/29/06, Rob Unsworth < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Nov 2006, John Foliot wrote:
>
> > Other countries also use Braille/tactile indicators on their currency,
> > including Malaysia:
> > [http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=23&;pg=452&ac=22&security=1]
>
> Malaysia get their banknotes from the leader in banknote technology.
> http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/currency.html
>
> Check the different shaped (dark patches) windows below the 10, 50 and on
> the left bottom of the $5 note, they are clear plastic windows each note
> has a different shaped window.
>
>
> --
> Regards, | Lions District 201 Q3
> Rob Unsworth | IT & Internet Chairman
> Ipswich, Australia | http://www.lionsq3.asn.au
> -------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
--
Blog: http://www.tech.port.ac.uk/staffweb/duke-wie/blog/
From: Paul R. Bohman
Date: Thu, Nov 30 2006 7:00AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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On 11/30/06, = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> The ruling is by a federal judge in a US District Court.
>
> It has nothing to do with the state of New York other than,
> perhaps, the location of the courthouse or that of the
> press reporting the ruling.
Thanks for the clarification. That's what I get for not reading
carefully enough!
It will definitely be an interesting case to follow. It seems like the
kind of issue that will take a while to resolve, due in part to the
technical nature of redesigning the bills. I anticipate some
resistance too. We shall see.
--
Paul R. Bohman
Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
George Mason University
From: Michael R. Burks
Date: Thu, Nov 30 2006 7:50AM
Subject: Re: U.S. money is inaccessible to the blind
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Paul,
It has been posted to a lot lists and it is pretty interesting. It should
bear watching.
Mike Burks
919 870 8788 - Office
703-254-3881 - Cell