[accessibleimage] Re: proposes solutions to us currency access problem

US currency tends to accumulate random nicks and folds as it's used so I don't 
think nicks would work. How about an arrangement of thicker threads running 
through each bill?

Diane Nousanen
DianeNousanen@xxxxxxxxx
(512) 206-9108
1100 West 45th St.
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Austin, Tex. 78756
(512) 206-9108
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Blackburn, Alan 
  To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 7:43 PM
  Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: proposes solutions to us currency access 
problem


  We have the same sort of "little gizmo" John talks about to identify our 
Australian notes, which are all  different sizes (and colours-good for low 
vision).

  Would it perhaps be possible to put small "nicks" on the very edge of the 
note, a different number of them or different placement, depending on the 
value? It would have to be rounded so it didn't catch and rip on machines and 
wouldn't need to be very large, the ends of the notes would probably be better 
than the top or bottom (less likely to catch). Could be done using some kind of 
punch by the banks as a short term solution.

  Aussie notes are not paper but a very tough kind of plastic so this may work, 
if the American notes are paper and relatively fragile it may not.

  Alan

   

  From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Gardner
  Sent: Wednesday, 28 May 2008 1:26 AM
  To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: proposes solutions to us currency access 
problem

   

  I don't think that tactile markings are the answer.  I travel in Europe a lot 
and didn't even know that Euro bills had tactile markings until this 
discussion.  However I have no difficulty at all identifying them by size.  I 
remember the old Dutch Guilder had tactile markings.  Even after they were 
pointed out to me I couldn't read anything, because the tactile bumps were so 
tiny.  Maybe excellent braille readers could read those markings, but I doubt 
that many elderly blind people could.

   

  The solution to the dilemma is simple - just have different size bills for 
different denominations.  The US just as to do it.  Bills only have a useful 
life of a few years, so phasing in new bills over ten years would work fine.  
So there's now a business opportunity for companies making money machines to 
sell new ones!

   

  FYI I have a Euro money identifier.  It's a little plastic gizmo that one 
wraps a bill around and reads off a marking at the end that tells you what the 
bill is.  Every bank in Europe has them to hand out free.  I'm told that it's 
the biggest access product ever made.

   

  John

   

   

   


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steven Landau
  Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 7:47 AM
  To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: proposes solutions to us currency access 
problem

  those are good points, Lori.  It seems like this problem is not so simple...

  On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Lori <twilight2@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

  It would seem that random placement would cut down on efficiency on 
identification. I've also read somewhere that the tactile markings on some 
bills wear down, so I hope good research is done across the board.

   

  L...

   

    ----- Original Message ----- 

    From: Steven Landau 

    To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

    Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9:29 AM

    Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: proposes solutions to us currency access 
problem

     

    sylvie, thanks very much for your excellent short summary of the issue of 
access to currency in the US. I don't know much about the technical problems 
what could result from even doing something so seemingly simple as adding 
tactile markings to bills. I imagine that some machines, like the ones they use 
to count money, could have a problem with any marking that changes the 
thickness of the bills, especially if that mark occurs in the same place on all 
bills.  I know from our work in manufacturing tactile pictures, that when you 
have a large stack of tactile sheets that all have the same markings, that the 
stack gets higher in the place where the marks occur. This could cause jams, 
etc. Maybe the mark would have to happen in a random place, so that a pile of 
money would stay more or less flat; I wonder what a randomly-placed mark, 
however, would do to either make it easier or harder to detect counterfeits....




    On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 7:43 AM, Lisa Yayla <lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

    Sylvia, 

    The solutions you wrote about sound very good. 

    I was thinking there might be also a transition stage - the time when old 
bills are still around before going over to accessible bills and

    that there might be a way to make old bills accessible before they are 
taken out of circulation.

    What if banks had embossing equipment so when ever an "old" bill comes in 
it is run through an embosser and a embossed mark 

    is placed on it?

    Best,

    Lisa

     

    accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx skrev 27. mai 2008 kl. 09:26 +0000:

    This issue is being debated among disability advocates from the two main

    organizations of the blind, the American Council of the Blind and the

    National Federation of the Blind.

     

    I think it is very appropriate for tactile designers to also give it serious

    consideration.

     

    Those who haven't been keeping up with these debates should be aware that

    the majority of legally blind people in wealthy countries are older adults,

    and I very much doubt

    if most of them are members of any Blindness organization. Most teachers and

    counselors I know of who work with older people who have lost vision as

    adults are told again and again by the majority of these people that they

    would love to once again be able to quickly identify their money on their

    own, so as to maintain some degree of independence and dignity in stores, on

    public transit, in taxis, and in restaurants, etc. Credit-debit cards can't

    be used everywhere; for example, they can't be used on many public transit

    bus systems. and some older people don't feel comfortable using them anyway.

     

    Most people with low vision, and all blind people, are unable to

    distinguish one denomination of American paper money from another. Blind

    people must ask sighted people for help in order to count and sort their

    bills. Some may be able to afford and feel comfortable with machines that

    can identify the denominations and speak the values out loud. But, many

    people, especially older people who have lost vision as adults,  cannot

    afford to buy such machines, or they feel uncomfortable using them, and

    these machines make many nervous in check-out lines, where they slow things

    down a bit.

     

    In the United States, visual impairment is the third most common chronic

    condition, after arthritis and heart disease, among the elderly.

     

    It is noteworthy that 17% of

    adults aged 65 through 74 and 26% of those aged 75 and older have some form

    of visual impairment (Lighthouse International, 2003).

     

    We should also keep in mind that the United States is constantly replacing

    worn-out currency.  Altering the size and design of denominations of bills

    above the one-dollar bill would cost something like 5 percent of what the

    government has spent on producing currency in the past decade.

     

    The Treasury spent a considerable amount of money redesigning our currency

    in 1996 and 2004. But, both times they basically ignored recommendations

    presented by a 1995 National Academy of Sciences report that recommended

    making changes that would facilitate identification of different

    denominations by touch.

     

    As a matter of fact, the United States had paper currency that varied in

    size before 1929. It began producing all denominations of bills in the

    same-size in 1929.  All other countries with paper currency vary the bills

    in size according to denomination or include other features that help  all

    people, sighted and nonsighted, in distinguishing between different

    denominations of bills. Some add embossed dots, some have raised ink or

    foil.

    In Europe, for example, the Euro varies in size: the greater the value of

    the bill, the greater the length. Each bill also has a raised number and

    foil perceptible to touch, which not only helps those people who are blind

    but is considered a security feature to prevent counterfeiting. In Japan,

    the denominations each have a different geometric watermark shape in the

    corner. Canadian bills have a different set of raised symbols. For example,

    the $5 note has one raised symbol; the $10 note has two symbols.

     

    Okay, tactile designers, let's work on some ideas for what the U.S. bills

    could have!

     

    Best regards,

     

    Sylvie

     

    ----- Original Message ----- 

    From: "Steven Landau" <sl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

    To: <accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

    Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2008 4:51 PM

    Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: proposes solutions to us currency access

    problem

     

    yes, it will, indeed, be interesting to see this case go to the supreme

    court, if it comes to that.  You are right, that if they just add braille,

    or some other tactile marking to the existing paper money, that won't be

    robust enough to last very long. I know that currency these days has a lot

    of sophisticated anti-counterfeiting measures, such as watermarks, very tiny

    printing in many colors, and a special thread that is somehow embedded in

    the paper, and that you can't see unless you hold it up to a light source. I

    am wondering if that thread could be modified to add some form of electronic

    tagging that could be read through some low tech means. But I think it would

    be best if the user did not need to own and carry another dedicated device

    for reading bills.

     

    On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 7:11 PM, Robert Jaquiss <rjaquiss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

    wrote:

     

    >  Hello List:

    > 

    >      It will certainly be interesting to see if the treasury appeals this

    > ruling to the Supreme Court. For those outside of the U. S., the Treasury

    > can appeal the currency ruling to the U. S. Supreme Court which is our

    > highest court. Because of the large cost of redesigning the currency and

    all

    > the handling equipment, some people have advocated that the Treasury

    simply

    > provide any blind person who wants one a talking currency identifier.

    These

    > are currently in the $250 range, but it is believed that if the government

    > bought a million of them that the price would drop. I have also heard that

    > embossed bills tend to flatten out erasing their markings. Perhaps a

    marking

    > could be applied to bills, but I wonder if currency counters and other

    > handling equipment would jam with the extra thick currency. One thing I am

    > certain of is that there will be much discussion of this topic on the

    > blindness related lists.

    > 

    > Regards,

    > 

    > Robert Jaquiss

    > 

    > 





    -- 

    steven landau

    touch graphics, inc.

    330 west 38 street suite 1204

    new york, ny 10018

    usa

    p. 800-884-2440

    f. 646-452-4311

    c. 646-515-3492

     

    Lisa Yayla

    Huseby Kompetansesenter 

    Oslo Norway

    lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx




    -- 
    steven landau
    touch graphics, inc.
    330 west 38 street suite 1204
    new york, ny 10018
    usa
    p. 800-884-2440
    f. 646-452-4311
    c. 646-515-3492 


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  -- 
  steven landau
  touch graphics, inc.
  330 west 38 street suite 1204
  new york, ny 10018
  usa
  p. 800-884-2440
  f. 646-452-4311
  c. 646-515-3492 


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