Currency ruling a win for the blind

The Illinois Council of the Blind hails the May 20 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit which states the Department of the Treasury discriminates against people who are blind in our current system for paper currency, with all bills being the same size and shape.

We strongly urge Treasury officials to move quickly to end further appeals and begin working with relevant stakeholders to develop paper currency everyone can identify independently, including the 10 million people in the United States who are blind or visually impaired.

The United States needs to step forward now and join with much of the civilized world which has developed independently identifiable paper currency.

As currency is re-designed to thwart counterfeiting, changes can be made.

This ruling marks a huge improvement in the quality of life for people who are blind.

Today, people who are blind must rely on the honesty of family, friends, wait staff at restaurants, store clerks and others to accurately tell them which bill is which so they can fold their bills in various ways in order to tell them apart.

What if someone is having a bad day or simply makes a mistake and hands someone like me, who is totally blind, a $1 bill and tells me it's a $20?

The most important thing this ruling does is open up many more employment options for people who are blind. Some 70 percent of working age people who are blind or visually impaired are unemployed.

Because of the appeals court ruling, jobs requiring the handling of money will be open to people who are blind.

May 20 will be remembered as the day 10 million people who are blind truly gained the right to independently conduct business in our nation alongside our sighted families, friends, coworkers and others.

We are approaching a day when the United States will join with 180 other nations in making its paper currency independently identifiable by people who are blind.

The ICB enthusiastically salutes everyone who has worked hard to make this ruling a reality.

Ray Campbell

President

Illinois Council of the Blind

Springfield