Comments on: The National Federation of the Blind Position and OurMoneyToo’s Response http://ourmoneytoo.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/the-national-federation-of-the-blind-position-and-ourmoneytoos-response/ Let's make U.S. paper currency safer and easier to use for everyone. Tue, 13 May 2008 19:14:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: Jake http://ourmoneytoo.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/the-national-federation-of-the-blind-position-and-ourmoneytoos-response/#comment-53 Jake Sat, 23 Jun 2007 18:32:14 +0000 http://ourmoneytoo.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/the-national-federation-of-the-blind-position-and-ourmoneytoos-response/#comment-53 I have a very hard time coming to terms with the argument put forth by the NFB saying that implementation of accessible paper money will in fact hurt us. This is kind of like the audio description dilemma. Some people may not prefer audio description, but that doesn't mean audio description is a bad thing and should therefore be opposed by every visually-impaired person. Just for the record, I really enjoy audio description and think it should be more widely used. I read somewhere else that the reason the NFB all of a sudden has switched their views on the currency issue, is because they weren't the ones filing this lawsuit and their rivals were. I think this is taking the easy way out. What a bunch of cheapskates! Personal preference is what it all comes down to. If you are opposed to accessible paper currency, you just might stand a better chance of being ripped off and you might look like a total idiot standing there having a sighted person tell you what each bill is, but apparently that's okay for some people. Not for me! That's why I signed the petition. I have a very hard time coming to terms with the argument put forth by the NFB saying that implementation of accessible paper money will in fact hurt us. This is kind of like the audio description dilemma. Some people may not prefer audio description, but that doesn’t mean audio description is a bad thing and should therefore be opposed by every visually-impaired person. Just for the record, I really enjoy audio description and think it should be more widely used. I read somewhere else that the reason the NFB all of a sudden has switched their views on the currency issue, is because they weren’t the ones filing this lawsuit and their rivals were. I think this is taking the easy way out. What a bunch of cheapskates! Personal preference is what it all comes down to. If you are opposed to accessible paper currency, you just might stand a better chance of being ripped off and you might look like a total idiot standing there having a sighted person tell you what each bill is, but apparently that’s okay for some people. Not for me! That’s why I signed the petition.

]]> By: Mike Gorse http://ourmoneytoo.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/the-national-federation-of-the-blind-position-and-ourmoneytoos-response/#comment-48 Mike Gorse Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:26:10 +0000 http://ourmoneytoo.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/the-national-federation-of-the-blind-position-and-ourmoneytoos-response/#comment-48 A brief story: This afternoon, I went to the bakery at the end of the street and gave the proprietor what I thought was a 20 dollar bill, but he told me that it was a 1 and expressed concern that maybe I had been ripped off. I go there fairly regularly and know the owner, so I am choosing to take him at his word, but, as with the time I was told by a casheer that I gave him a $1 bill rather than a $100 bill, I don't really know what happened. I might have mistakenly placed a $1 bill in the section of my wallet where I normally keep $20 bills at some point, although I don't recall ever having made that mistake before. Anyway, this touches on the issue, deemed crucial by the NFB, of how we are perceived by the sighted public, as handing out the wrong bill is an embarrassing mistake to make, assuming that we are really handing out the wrong bill rather than being taken advantage of. One might argue that I should have been more careful and should have taken the bill out of my wallet and put it on my scanner to try to be absolutely sure that it was what I thought it was. However, such measures go far beyond what would be required of a sighted person. Focusing on an individual's behavior may well be a good idea, but it is not an appropriate or effective way to address a systemic barrier. It would be like pairing two equally-skilled runners in a five-mile race, giving the first runner a two-minute head start, and telling the second runner that, if she loses, then she lost because she didn't run fast enough. In the long term, we will be most helped to find employment if we can perform tasks roughly as easily and naturally as a sighted person can, so we should work towards that aim of universal design. With money, that means having bills that are tactily distinguishable like nearly every other country, not having to have a bill reader. Given that bills are regularly re-designed anyway and such a change would benefit everyone, including sighted people, and cost a tiny amount compared to what we are spending on weapons and occupying Iraq, this could hardly be considered an unreasonable stance to take. A brief story: This afternoon, I went to the bakery at the end of the street and gave the proprietor what I thought was a 20 dollar bill, but he told me that it was a 1 and expressed concern that maybe I had been ripped off. I go there fairly regularly and know the owner, so I am choosing to take him at his word, but, as with the time I was told by a casheer that I gave him a $1 bill rather than a $100 bill, I don’t really know what happened. I might have mistakenly placed a $1 bill in the section of my wallet where I normally keep $20 bills at some point, although I don’t recall ever having made that mistake before.

Anyway, this touches on the issue, deemed crucial by the NFB, of how we are perceived by the sighted public, as handing out the wrong bill is an embarrassing mistake to make, assuming that we are really handing out the wrong bill rather than being taken advantage of. One might argue that I should have been more careful and should have taken the bill out of my wallet and put it on my scanner to try to be absolutely sure that it was what I thought it was. However, such measures go far beyond what would be required of a sighted person. Focusing on an individual’s behavior may well be a good idea, but it is not an appropriate or effective way to address a systemic barrier. It would be like pairing two equally-skilled runners in a five-mile race, giving the first runner a two-minute head start, and telling the second runner that, if she loses, then she lost because she didn’t run fast enough. In the long term, we will be most helped to find employment if we can perform tasks roughly as easily and naturally as a sighted person can, so we should work towards that aim of universal design. With money, that means having bills that are tactily distinguishable like nearly every other country, not having to have a bill reader. Given that bills are regularly re-designed anyway and such a change would benefit everyone, including sighted people, and cost a tiny amount compared to what we are spending on weapons and occupying Iraq, this could hardly be considered an unreasonable stance to take.

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