Federal Court Rules U.S. Currency Violates the Rights of the Blind

[mandy]

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has held that U.S. paper money violates the Rehabilitation Act because different denominations cannot be easily distinguished by blind and visually impaired people.

As the court notes, blind people are forced to resort to an "impressive array of coping mechanisms" such as folding different denominations in different ways or carrying an electronic scanning device at all times, in order to function in the marketplace. These coping mechanisms often require blind consumers to ask sighted persons for assistance in sorting or otherwise identifying their money, and make them easy victims of fraud.

Given these burdens, the court held that the blind lack "meaningful access" to U.S. currency in violation of Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In so holding, the court noted that one purpose of this act was to "empower individuals with disabilities to maximize employment, economic self-sufficiency, independence, and inclusion and integration into society."...

full article: http://www.acsblog.org/equal-protection-...blind.html