[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 <mailto:sl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  

        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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