A Web site called OurMoneyToo.org is focused on the important legal decision made in 2006 about making U.S. money accessible to blind and visually impaired people. On November 28, 2006, Judge James Robertson ruled in favor of the American Council of the Blind, which had sued in 2002 over the inaccessibility of U.S. money The judge said "that the government's failure to design U.S. currency in a way that allows blind and visually impaired people to distinguish the bills independently is a violation of § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in federal government programs."Now the U.S. Treasury Dept. needs to design accessible money and the hope is that the blindness community and others affected by inaccessible money will have some input.
Here's what OurMoneyToo advocates:
Blind people use money just like everyone else, but since American paper currency is all the same size and texture, blind people can't tell $1 from $20 bills without help from machines or sighted people (pictured). For the sake of the millions of Americans with visual impairment, the U.S. Treasury needs to add tactile features to American paper money to make it safer and easier for everyone to use. We all deserve the personal security of knowing what's in our wallets.
Even sighted people will benefit from making U.S. bills accessible by touch:
- It will make paper money harder to counterfeit: tactile features like variation in bill size or embedded epoxy bumps will provide additional obstacles to counterfeiters.
- It will make paper money safer and easier to use: tactile cues will help everyone handle cash more quickly, discreetly and efficiently--even in the dark, just as tactile differences between coins help us now.
- It will promote social justice: by allowing visually impaired Americans fairer access to the most basic tool of commerce, tactile features on paper money will help make our society more productive and healthier for everyone.
