As some of you may know, in 2002 the American Council of the Blind filed suit against the Department of the Treasury (Civil Action No. 02-0864 (JR)) alleging that the Department of Treasury violates section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, by its repeated and continuing failures to design and issue paper currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people.
Today, U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that "It can no longer be successfully argued that a blind person has 'meaningful access' to currency if she cannot accurately identify paper money without assistance." Below are a few of the highlights.
Most people with low vision, and all blind people, are incapable of looking at American currency and distinguishing one denomination from another. In order to know whether the bill in her hand is worth five dollars or fifty, a blind person must ask someone else for help or use a machine that can identify the denomination and speak it out loud.
Of the more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, only the United States prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their denominations. The Euro varies in size based on denomination: the greater the value of the note, the greater the length. The Swiss Franc contains intaglio digits and a perforated numeral that can be identified by touch. In Japan, in a new design for the Yen, has incorporated a tactile feature in the ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 notes, different for each note, that has a rougher texture than the rest of the bill. The Canadian Dollar also contains tactile features according to denomination. Australia’s dollars differ in color and size. English Pound notes vary in color and size and contain tactile symbols. Chinese currency differs in color and possesses a tactile symbol, as does the currency in Argentina and Israel. Saudi Arabia’s currency varies in color and size.
Even Congress has expressed interest in changing U.S. currency to accommodate the visually impaired. In 1997, the House of Representatives “strongly encourage[d] the Secretary of the Treasury and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to incorporate cost-effective, tactile features into the design changes, thereby including the blind and visually impaired community in independent currency usage,” to no avail.
From Judge Robertson’s Memorandum (November 28, 2006) -
There was a time when disabled people had no choice but to ask for help – to rely on the “kindness of strangers.” It was thought to be their lot. Blind people had to ask strangers to push elevator buttons for them. People in wheelchairs needed Boy Scouts to help them over curbs and up stairs. We have evolved, however, and Congress has made our evolution official, by enacting the Rehabilitation Act, whose stated purpose is “to empower individuals with disabilities to maximize employment, economic self-sufficiency, independence, and inclusion and integration into society.” 29 U.S.C. § 701(b)(emphasis added). It can no longer be successfully argued that a blind person has “meaningful access” to currency if she cannot accurately identify paper money without assistance.
In response to the government’s suggestion that any changes to the currency would “significantly complicate any effort to add a tactile feature to U.S. currency,” Judge Robertson wrote: “This suggestion is unsupported argument, and it is utterly unpersuasive. The government offers no reason to think that the addition of a tactile feature would render U.S. currency more vulnerable to counterfeiting, and indeed the use of foil and raised print on the Euro is considered a security feature, as is the micro-perforated number on a Swiss banknote.”
And in response to the argument that any “drastic or sudden” changes to the currency could undermine international recognition and acceptance of U.S. currency “as a common medium of exchange throughout the world,” he stated that the contention was not only “unsupported, but, on its face, is fairly absurd.”
This is a wonderful victory not just for ACB, but for all blind and visually impaired people.
The order is available in an accessible pdf format at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/opinions/2006/Robertson/2002-CV-0864~12:56:1~11-28-2006-a.pdf
Day Al-Mohamed
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
American Council of the Blind
1155 15th St. NW
Washington DC 20005
Tel. 202-467-5081
dalmohamed@acb.org