Blindly Helping the Blind?  

Who would argue with the announcement below about changing the design of much of our American paper money so that the blind would know what they had in hand?  I would say, “Wait a minute.”  

A federal appeals court recently upheld a 2006 ruling which may require the Treasury Department to make modifications to currency.  In a 2-1 opinion, federal appeals court judges wrote that current bills deny people with vision disabilities "meaningful access" to U.S. money.  A judge on the case noted that a person could not determine the difference between a 100 dollar bill and a one dollar bill by touch.  Reportedly, the government has hired a research firm to explore ways to make sure currency is accessible to all.  The Council of the Blind, plaintiff, suggested a redesign that will result in bills that are different sizes or embossed with raised markings to help in differentiating one bill from another.  Mitch Pomerantz, 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."  To read more about this Associated Press story, go to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356727,00.html. As found in HE-SL Digest for Thursday, May 22, 2008.  

Wait a minute until this question has been answered:  has anyone compared the cost of an electronic currency reader to the cost of changing much, if not most, of our paper bills?  

If you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2008 by a local nonprofit organization.  

1. What did the federal appeals court rule?

(a) That the design of American paper money denied people with vision disabilities meaningful access to U.S. money.

(b) That a separate set of paper money should be created for those with vision disabilities.  

2. Why is the court’s ruling cause for concern?

(a) People with hearing disabilities have not been consulted.

(b) No one has done a comparison of cost with that of an electronic currency reader.  

3. It is argued that an electronic currency reader might be slow or might fail to read a bill correctly.

(a) In which case, engineers should design a better reader.

(b) In which case, we should immediately change our paper money.

August 28, 2008