In honor of the Louis Braille Silver Dollar being released this week, I wanted to ask all of my readers how you think U.S. paper currency should be changed to make it accessible to the blind. Please visit the blog and cast your vote. The poll will be open for a month. When all the votes are cast I will blog about the results and send my findings to The U.S. Treasury Department and National Blindness Organizations.
In my opinion I think the best way is to make the bills different sizes and to use tactile markings. What do you think? Remember that the U.S. is the only country in the whole world whose paper money can not be distinguished by the blind.
To learn more about this issue, consider reading some of my other posts like:
Another Arguement for why American paper money should be accessible to the blind
Why the Unites States Treasury should make Paper Currency Accessible
After you vote in the poll, please if you haven't already, sign the petition to tell the Treasury Department that they need to make or money accessible.
Update: It was brought to my attention that there are other countries with inaccessible paper currency. Please see comments.
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4 days ago
Tactile markings makes the most sense to me. Im thinking of impact to existing bill sorting machines and I would think they could handle the addition of tactile markings of the existing size and print could be maintained. Good solution for all?
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI am Antonio Guimaraes, and I am originally from Brazil.
thank you for putting up the voting feature on your site.
I wanted to comment on the statement that the U.S. is the only country in the world not to have money the blind can tell apart by touch. That statement is not true. I know for a fact that the Real, used in Brazil, is not accessible. The money has these markings that are supposed to be used for the blind, but all the markings are is more ink, and something for show. If Brazil doesn't have accessible money, then your statement is not true.
Look at other countries, all countries in the worls, and you are also sure to find other places without accessible money. Besides, the most accessible money is that which I earn, and am able to spend.
this is not to belittle the efforts to have accessible money in the united states, but it is a very interesting point to keep in mind.
Antonio,
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know. I will have to let my sources know that there are other countries with inaccessible currency. I'll update the post to reflect this information.
In Australia we have bills that are all the same width but different lengths, with the smaller bills being shorter and the larger ones being longer.
ReplyDeleteThey're also bright colours with each one different, which helps people with low vision or anybody sorting money quickly or in a darkish place.