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Judge Says U.S. Money Violates Rights of the Blind
An anonymous reader writes, "The United States is one of the few countries in the world whose currency isn't distinguishable by blind people. Most other nations use raised text, different-sized bills, or other methods to assist blind people in spending their money. If a recent decision by a federal court in D.C. survives appeal, however, that will soon change. Under Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, federal programs cannot deny 'meaningful access' to people with disabilities. Because blind people are unable to distinguish U.S. currency without assistance, the court held that they are denied meaningful access to their own money. U.S. District Judge James Robertson ordered the Treasury Department to come up with ways for the blind to tell bills apart. He said he wouldn't tell officials how to fix the problem, but he ordered them to begin working on it." How Appealing notes that Judge Robertson opened the door to a speedy appeal of his ruling.
I always did wonder how, in the U.S., blind people dealt with money. I ended up meeting a friend of my father's who was blind, so I asked him. He told me that he has someone (someone who can see, obviously) fold his money a certain way -- singles get folded in half, 5's got folded into an L-shape, 10's got folded another way and so on so that he always knew what denomination of money he was taking out of his wallet.
Ramps built into buildings for wheelchairs make it easier to get heavy gear in and out. Braile on ATM keyboards and lift buttons make it easier to distinguish between keys. Audio-tactile devices on pedestrian crossings provide a better UI for people regardless of whether they can see or not.
Trust me. US currency will be better for everybody if it accomodates blind people.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Come to think about it, ATMs must be nigh on impossible to use too.
Inserting the card and entering a PIN sounds doable blind - but then you're presented with screens to navigate via soft keys (and it's different between ATMs). No chance.
Funny the things us sighted people take for granted.
biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
This is just a really poor decision that should be blocked by the next court up the chain. Reading the decision the judge goes into how bad it is that the bill are all the same and how it places a hardship, which it does. However devices are available which allow around which allow the money to meet the law. The judge should of told the people sueing that they should go take it up with thier congressmen; instead of doing this stupid soapbox speech.
Some other decision by him:
Private unions cannot expell members who spread "falsehood and misrepresentation" because that breaks the members freedom of speech.
Has through out a few cases for companies giving expensive gifts to government officials.
In various court cases has just ignored major case points on various parties and ruled based on older laws that had been superceded.
blind people are completely incapable of judging size anyway as it has no meaning to them; theirs is a world without size, colour, distance or space.
I can agree with you on colour, but without size, distance or space? I don't think so; they'd have trouble doing anything at all if they couldn't perceive those. Check out this guy.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
But the solution to the aforementioned problem is to make the highest currency bill have the least holes. Therefore, you could turn a $100 bill into a $1 by punching holes, but not vice-versa. There are other problems with the idea, of course.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
Not everywhere takes credit/debit: try using one on a coke machine or at a hot dog stand and prepare to go thirsty/hungry. The inability to distinguish notes is quite a big deal to the substantial number of people with sight discibilities. The US currency has a history of being slow to adopt sensible measures - only relatively recently was a realistic attempt at address forgery added to the greenback.
Notes remaining legal tender isn't really all that uncommon. What everyone does is to simply stop reissuing the old variety, so every time an old style note goes into a bank it gets destroyed, and a new style note comes out in its place. Give it six months and you still see a few old style notes about, but not very many - think about how long you normally hang onto a note for: a few days at most. This is also why you don't see too many ripped and tattered notes about, banks destroy them when they get them.
I have mod points but had to reply. *sigh* IUTWBEP (I Used To Work for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing) There are several reasons why the Treasury Department would resist this change: 1. There has just been a recent currency redesign. Each one usually takes ~10 years from start to finish. 2. The time it takes has little to do with "retooling" the machines. In fact, during the last changeover there was no gap in production. That is, the old 20's were printed right up until the time the new ones started. The reason? The new currency is printed on new machines. 3. Instead the time is taken by the actual design and preparation process. It takes years to actually get a design that everybody involved (more than you think) will accept. There are always minute details that get changed or massaged until all of the needs and wants are satisfied. Many special groups (in this case, for the blind) will be called in to consult. That frightens federal workers because a. most federal employees don't really care for contractors, despite what they tell you and b. it always takes longer when a consultant is involved, in the federal government or not. 4. The cost of changing the currency is astronomical. It's figured into the budget (my uncle is the chief of budget there... I didn't work for him though, no nepotism) over the course of that ~10 years. To mandate a change in the middle of a cycle will cause serious budget issues. 5. The vending machine industry will vehemently protest because every machine that accepts a bill will need to be changed. Sure, you could propose that we keep the $1 bill the same so that the vast majority of machines won't have to be updated and you're probably right. Unfortunately the vending machine companies will still protest. 6. Assuming this does get passed it will still take years to have it implemented, especially without specific instructions as to how to proceed. 7. If the project is rushed by court order or Treasury mandate the job will not be done well, or will blow the roof off of the budget. Oh yeah, by the way, BEP is NOT funded by Congress. The Federal Reserve buys the currency from them. Therefore, if the budget skyrockets Congress can't just step in and add more cash, unless there's... well an act of Congress. And quit it with the "they can just print more money" lines. Nobody who works for Treasury has ever though that was funny or clever. 8. If it's ordered to be done quickly and there is no budget increase it will be done poorly. Keep in mind that BEP employees, especially those working the presses are some of the finest in their field in the world. However, as anybody in IT will know, it doesn't matter how good you are at your job; if you're rushed and not properly-funded to meet the rush the job suffers. That's what I came up with off the top of my head. There are probably more problems. Maybe this can be worked into the next redesign but that should be a few years underway already. It's hard to change gears in the middle of a long-term project. Don't get me wrong though, I'm all for accessability. I think that it should be done, but now is not the time.
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. - Neitzsche