Court Rules That U.S. Currency Discriminates Against The Blind
According to the AP, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that because all dollar bills are identical to the touch, it denies blind people "meaningful access" to the currency. For years, the American Council of the Blind has been going after the government to take action, but the government has always resisted. Details, inside...
The ruling upholds a lower court's decision from 2006. The suggested changes include different size bills and raised markings. The government acknowledges the problem but also insists that the blind have sufficiently adapted by folding corners on bills, using automatic bill readers or by getting help from sighted people. Currently, over 100 countries make use of different size bills or have other features that help the blind.
Mitch Pomerantz, the president of the Council of the Blind said, "I don't think we should have to rely on people to tell us what our money is." Sam McClain, a blind man who manages a snack shop complains about automatic money readers, "It's slow. Sometimes I have 10 or 15 people in here, and I can't use it." Aside from being slow, the money readers have also been known to have trouble reading the new $20 bills. He usually has to rely on the honesty of his customers.
Since some employers hesitate to hire blind workers because of the money recognition issue, redesigned bills could mean more job opportunities for blind people. "When there are so few things in your life that you've got total control over, being able to even take care of your own money is such a big step, without requiring someone to tell whether you've got enough money to go out and get a beer or have a hamburger," said Kim Charlson of the Perkins School for the Blind.
Despite the governments resistance to a major money overhaul, they have actually been inching toward change to help the visually impaired. For example, a recent currency redesign for the $5 bill features a purple giant-sized 5 on one side to help people that have moderate vision impairment.
The treasury department has run into this issue in the past but had received resistance from the makers of vending and change machines citing that such changes would cost these companies billions to redesign their machines. However, one proposal is to leave $1 dollar bills unchanged, thus negating theses costs.
To make matters even more complicated, not all blind people agree that a change is needed. The National Federation of the Blind sided with the government and told the appeals court that no changes were needed.
If newly designed money can help people gain their independence then we think it should become a reality, despite the financial cost. We're not design experts but couldn't something could be added to currency to give it a tactile signature without breaking current change and vending machines? How would you go about changing money to help the visually impaired?
Court rules paper money unfair to blind [CNN]
Court: Paper money discriminates against the blind [AP]
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Comments:
::groan::
Is this really what we need to worry about as a society right now?
Because paper money changes hands so frequently, I can see raised markings being rubbed away or depressed fairly quickly. Bills of different sizes sound problematic to sort, though.
about freaking time!
Canadian money has had braille on it for years as well as bigger digits and bolder colours just for the blind and visually impared.
On another note, tittie bars have been found to also discriminate against the blind.
@consumersaur: Yes.
They could have fixed this when they started updating all of the bills. I don't understand why they're resisting changing the bills when they changing the bill anyway.
@Ash78: Or just have braille stamped on the bill. It's cheap, easy and many countries use it already. In Canada, it has been used for a while.
@HIV 2 Elway: Very true!
And nice picture, Jay. Not creepy enough to haunt me, but funny enough to save for later!
"I can see raised markings being rubbed away or depressed fairly quickly."
And this is why many countries (including the European Union) have moved to metal coins for $1/1EUR and $2/2EUR... and IIRC EUR has a 5 unit note?
Let's face it: The US gubamint thinks that we're all yokels who won't be able to figure out what different sized bills or coins mean.
The same thing happened when (re-)introducing the US dollar coin -- many people complained that it was too similar to the quarter.
/the tango sighs ...
@AstroPig7: I like the idea of holes punched in the bill. Reads like braille but can't be rubbed off.
@Ash78: Also, every 20$ bill has traces of cocaine on itself already :) Just not enough to smell it with your nose (you can detect it with special machines, customs use these a lot).
@AstroPig7: Bills of different sizes sound problematic to sort, though.
I can't think of any countries in Europe or Asia that don't have different sized notes, so I assume sorting is not much an issue. Some of the smallest notes in India and Pakistan are physically smaller than monopoly money (and worth less than it, too!)
I always just saw this as some kind of cost-saving measure that was basically unique to the US in the modern era. That, plus being so late with the multicoloration and fraud prevention.
Scratch -n Sniff.
Strawberry 5's
Chocolate 10s
Rootbeer 20s
Vanilla 50s
and
Lemon 100s
@Victo: Interesting re: braille, didn't know that. I was with the earlier comment that I thought they would simply wear down pretty quickly.
@thetango: You should see American tourists in Canada : "You didn't give me all my change!" since they don't understand that they are given 1$/2$ coins.
A friend of mine works in a downtown ice-cream shop, he hears this phrase 50 times a day in the summer :)
And some people even DEMAND 1$/2$ bills after explanation, those are asked to visit a museum (since he cannot just tell them to f@ck off ;)
@Ash78: Not really, I suppose they use some specific stamping method, which combined with bill's texture is pretty much ''forever". I've seen several washed up bills, and you can still feel braille (on the bill's corner).
Redesigning money may prove to be difficult for one simple reason: much fewer Americans use wallets to keep their money in. I personally use a paper clip, and variations of money clips, rubber bands or nothing are pretty common in the US. Keeping money bills in a bunch is facilitated by their uniform size and the material, which is more a fabric than paper. This prevents the frayed edges and torn off corners many of my bills suffer in Europe in as little as a week in my pocket.
To redesign the US bills for the blind, we'd either need different sized bills and different material, which would hold the braille indentation. That, in turn, would require Americans to change their habits and carry bills in wallets. And as we all know, changing one's habit may be more difficult than marketing bionic eyes for the blind.
While I understand the frustration the blind feel when facing something like this, I can't help but think that we can't spend billions and billions of dollars to make someone with a disability feel better. If paper money discriminates, so do driver's licenses, and bookstores, and television... there's really no end to it.
It's like something our city is dealing with. Because of the ADA act, they are having to go through the entire city and put sloped ramps at each corner of every intersection. That costs $2,000 for every intersection. There are something like 20,000 intersections in the city. Does it really make sense to spend $40 Million dollars because someone in a wheelchair MIGHT use this particular sidewalk?
The cost isn't just changing the paper money. For instance, if they make the size of the bill variable based on the value of the bill, think of all the changes that will need to take place. You will have made EVERY automatic vending machine in the country somewhat worthless(assuming the $1 bill stays the same and all others change). Not to mention every cash register drawer, and most wallets couldn't accomodate much larger bills.
I just think we need to be realistic.
After travelling abroad I can say that the different sized bills are prety handy, even if you don't have a wallet, use a money clip, etc. It makes it so that you can leave the large bills in your pocket and only pull out the one you need. You don't have to advertise that $100 bill Playa!
How about the Australian 'rubber' money. Also, holes (vertical, horizontal and diagonal) indicating amounts would work.
"He [Sam McClain] usually has to rely on the honesty of his customers." Personally, after reading what some people try to get away with, I wouldn't want to rely on my customers to make sure I wasn't getting screwed.
It seems to me that money with braille imprinted on it would be harder to counterfeit.
@CaptainCynic: If paper money discriminates, so do driver's licenses, and bookstores, and television... there's really no end to it.
A society is judged by how it treats the weakest among us. As much as I am a fiscal tight-ass, I understand that this isn't simply a luxury for the blind. How would you feel if they said your kid couldn't get special ed classes because only x % of the pop. needs them and it's not economically warranted.
Yeah, we got bigger problems right now, but how many times has our paper currency been designed already? Each time costs lots of taxpayer money as well as affecting all the vending machine companies that must reprogram their readers.
Different size bills seems easy (leaving the $1.00 bill size unchanged to make many bill readers still usable).
Alternately, the corners or edges of the bill could be notched or cut. The fewest cuts is the highest denomination bil, so one could not cut a low denomination bill to mimick a higher denomination.
Access to currency seems pretty darn basic, and a lot more logical than putting braile on drive through ATM's which seems to be universal.
@CaptainCynic: Vending machines should be able to take differently-sized bills just fine with the slot the same size as the largest bill it's meant to accept.
how the hell did the blind tell bills apart in the past?
Quite frankly I am tired of bills changing....ESPECIALLY the new colors, the offset & large portraits.
The old designs (10+ years ago) had a certian dignity to them. Unwavering, solid, no fruity colors.... just green & dark green.
Yeah yeah yeah, the changes are safeguards against counterfeiting. But now they look idiotic.
@CaptainCynic: This isn't about making people "feel better". It's about the government distributing a currency that can be used effectively by the blind without having to worry about getting scammed.
In regards to the sidewalk, yes it is worth that money. Not because someone in a wheel chair might use the sidewalk. But because someone in a wheel chair WILL use the sidewalk. Probably more often than you think they do. How'd you like if you were in a wheel chair and couldn't leave your block without a person helping you because you can't get over the curb?
@thetango: yeah but who wants to carry around pockets full of 1 and 2 dollar coins?? it's bad enough carrying around the change we have now
@SkokieGuy: To be fair braille on drive through ATMs is probably because braille is put on all ATMs by default. That ATM could be installed next to a sidewalk, or in a drive-thru.
@buzzybee: says--"I like the idea of holes punched in the bill." I agree. It seems like a practical solution.
There was bound to be a downside to being blind.
This is really a no brainer.
Other countries use different sizes, braille markings, and bright colors to make it easier for the blind and the old. And most of us will get some vision problems when we are old. If dozens of other countries do this with no problems, why can't we?
Paper currency doesn't last very long anyway, they are always putting new bills into circulation and removing worn ones, this would not be amazingly difficult to implement if organized properly and phased in over time.
Jozef: So you're saying you're not as smart or adaptable as a European?
As the dad of a kid with a vision disability, this is welcome news. And it's not like teh rest of the world hasn't already figured this out. We're just late to the party. Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel? mOre than 100 countries use currency of different sizes and colors to note difference in denomination. What's so hard about this?
@CaptainCynic: You know who else said, "Screw the handicapped?" Of course, his solution tended to be a bit more, well, final.
Hey, SOMEONE had to Godwin this thread.
@unohoo:
Wouldnt those holes make a bill degrade even faster? I heard the average dollar bill lasts approx 2 years or so before it has to be destroyed. Here's an idea. 1,5,10,20 dollar coins.... they would last for 20+ years in circulation & mostly the blind could use them as most people HATE the idea of large denomination coins.
City Hall in Chicago has a small candy shop that is run exclusively by blind people if I remember correctly. I am not the most scrupulous person in the world, but I would have never dreamed of screwing with the person behind the counter. It just seems....wrong. Way too wrong.
@SkokieGuy: I like the notch idea. What I'm picturing is something like sawteeth on one of the short ends of the bill. If you put the un-notched end into the vending machine first it should still read just fine, no modifications necessary.
Why not just use a credit/debit card only. You will always pay the exact right amount, they have raised numbers and a lot of times it is faster to run a card through a machine then to count out change. Wasn't there just an article recently about how it is perfectly legal to not accept cash? That would take care of the shop owner not having to trust his customers (and I wouldn't trust my customers in that case). I am all for letting the blind participate economically, but when it will cost billions to retrofit everything and there is an easy alternative I don't see that it makes sense to. That being said I think that vending machines and just about everything else should be modified to accept a card. This will not only help the blind but also people who don't have any cash on them.
@bonzombiekitty: It makes more economic sense to redesign wheelchairs. No, I'm not nuts; it's feasible and would certainly be cheaper than modifying the entire infrastructure of the USA, even if it had to be subsidized.
While I don't see an overwhelming need to change the currency to placate a minority, I don't have any real objections to it, either. It shouldn't be costly for the mints to change, and the free market will take care of things like tills, money machines, etc.
@BaysideWrestling: Actually, I'm originally from Europe, and still holding an EU passport. That doesn't preclude me from liking US money designs and the usability of US bills better, though.
(To be honest, however, I'm a little biased by the fact that in Europe stores have the right - ant they often use it - to refuse any damaged bills, and banks will change them for new ones only for a fee.)
@CaptainCynic: Wow. The whole point of the ADA and the reason we have it is to make accommodations for people with disabilities so that they are not inadvertently discriminated against and they can live a semi-normal life.
How else would people with wheelchairs get around your city?
@toastydoc: You are a genius! Man, I would love scratch'n'sniff money.
There is some validity to "equal access to currency." There are currently there are anywhere from 3 to 15 million blind people in the US (depending upon your definition of "blind." That's 1-5% of the population of the US. Adding a plastic or metal strip to our currency to accommodate these citizens seems like the right thing to do.
@consumersaur:
This makes you "groan"? Are you THAT selfish?! This has been a problem for years, the solution is simple, and it would help a lot of people! Why can't we stop for just a few minutes and take into account small changes to our behavior that would help disabled people tremendously?
I'm completely disgusted to be a part of the same species as you.
I admittedly veer far towards the accommodation side on issues like this. And even I think this is a bit absurd.
Like the idea of nuking the penny and $1 & $5 bills, though, replacing the latter two with coins. If the Repubs insist on putting Mr. Iran/Contra on one of 'em (and gods know they'll whine about it incessantly), then put Bubba on the other - just to irk them.
I've been living in Europe for the past year, and there is no problem with different sized bills. The US should have dropped the $1 bill decades ago, and left the $2 as the smallest bill. Most vending machines already take the $1 coin, so that won't be a problem. They (vending industry) can't quit their bitching before it even starts, with all the money they steal as it is they can afford any change.
I carry my money in a clip here, and having different sized bills is no problem, unless I'm carrying 100 or 500 euro bills, which is almost never and never respectively. Americans need to grow up and realize that they can handle money in different sizes and colors. Its not the end of the world if you all of sudden have to change something. Change is good. Idiots.
To the blind?!
It is hard to differentiate the denominations of boring US currency by persons with perfect vision!
Most countries currencies are tutti frutti compared to greenbacks.
@consumersaur: I can tell you've never been forced to deal with a disability. Spend a day with earplugs in, or in a wheelchair, or on crutches, and see how much fun it is.
It is ALWAYS time for this stuff.
@forgottenpassword: They couldn't. That's the whole point of this lawsuit. Read the stories; they had to depend on the honesty of other people for help. And a cashier could lie and say "This one", get a $20 when the bill was really $10, and pocket the difference.
The government had lots of opportunities to change things, especially with the recent redesigns, failed to, whined that it shouldn't have to, and got smacked down. The government isn't exempted from the ADA any more than the local grocery store is. If the accomodation is reasonable, whining won't get you out of it.
The court ruled that implementing help for the blind wasn't unreasaonable given how much has been spent redesigning and producing money in the first place, so now the feds get to pay more when they could have just implemented the changes in the first place.
It's like a store not installing a wheelchair ramp or automatic door, whining about the cost, getting told that the cost isn't unreasonable, and having to pay for the original door AND the new automatic one when it could have installed the automatic one in the first place and saved the cost of the original door.
(I'm disabled and hard of hearing, so I'm sensitive to these issues and I am very in favor of a redesign being forced as I know how frustrating it is to deal with my own issues and the lack of accomodation for them).
@buzzybee: Exactly. It doesn't cost that much to put the ramps in and for new construction, they're put in at build time. It's not a big deal.
Plus, those ramps don't just help wheelchair users. I've used them to get suitcases over curbs before (my disability is just my hearing, I'm physically OK) and the ramps are useful for getting suitcases up stairs, too, plus the wider doors/aisles/bathroom stalls/etc. designed to accomodate wheelchairs make things a lot simpler for the general public in other ways.
For instance, try putting your carryon suitcase with you in one of those tiny airport bathroom stalls. It's literally hard to turn around in there -- unless you make sure no one with a wheelchair is waiting, and use the larger wheelchair stall.
I had to pay for something after getting my eyes dilated, yesterday. I couldn't figure out which dollar bills I was holding, so I handed her my credit card - which turned out to be a business card.
It's really frustrating to have to rely on other people to be honest with you... something should be done to accommodate the blind.
Easy. Make $100 smell like good cocaine, make $20 smell like cocaine-and-baking-soda, make $10 smell like Northern Lights, and make $1 smell like ditch weed.
Eliminate $5.