Reid My Mind

ABC’s "What Would You Do?" aired a segment on accessible currency.

As a way to bring attention to the difficulties US currency presents to people who are blind, the producers decided to stage a store clerk purposely cheating two separate customers who were blind. The question, "What would you do?" applied to both, would you inform the customer or would you sit back and watch as someone unknowingly was ripped off.

So, what would YOU do?

NPR Discusses Accessible gadgets

NPR does a good job introducing some technologies currently available  to help people with various disabilities.

Read: "What’s Accessible? Gadgets For The Blind And Deaf"

Finally, the US Appeals Court rules in favor of The American Council of the Blind– saying the current US currency discriminates against people who are blind due to it’s indistinguishable denominations.

This has been a long battle that honestly isn’t over. The Treasury Department can continue by appealing to the Supreme Court.

According to this article:

The appeals court also ruled that the U.S. failed to explain why changing the money would be an undue burden. The Treasury Department has redesigned its currency several times in recent years, and adding features to aid the blind would come at a relatively small cost, the court said.

 

Other countries have added such features, the court said, and the U.S. never explained what made its situation so unique.

 

Now taking this issue all the way to the Supreme Court, what a statement that would send to the blind community!

Read the article from  Foxnews.com titled, Appeals Court: Paper Money Discriminates Against Blind

 The Feds just announced a new $5 bill soon to be put into circulation.

From the article…

“The security thread embedded in the $5 bill also has been moved to a different location than the one embedded in the $100 bill.

“We wanted this redesigned bill to scream, ‘I am a five. I am a five,”‘ Larry Felix, director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing said in an interview

with The Associated Press.”

Well, I guess if it actually did scream, millions of blind consumers would be able to INDEPENDENTLY distinguish the $5 from every other denomination.

However they did add features for some…

“Perhaps the most striking change is a new large-size 5 printed in the lower right-hand corner of the backside of the bill in high-contrast purple ink. That

Feature was added to help the visually impaired.”

If I recall correctly, one of the objections for modifying the currency was the cost of updating vending machines.

One more time from the article…

“Circulation is planned for the spring so operators of millions of vending machines have plenty of time to make the changes necessary so their devices will

accept the new $5 – a denomination used heavily in the machines.”

I just don’t get it! Can someone explain this to me, please?

Read more…

Check out this press release about the Bureau’s plan for a digital release of the new $5.

“From Bangkok to Boston, we want those who rely on our paper money around the globe – whether they are central banks, businesses or consumers – to have the information they need to verify the money they receive is genuine and to ensure a smooth introduction of new designs into commerce.” – Rose Pianalto, Assistant to the Board of Governors of

The Federal Reserve

Oh really! Maybe she should have ended that with “as long as they are sighted.”