Government Appeals Currency for Blind Ruling

The Justice Department has appealed a ruling by a federal judge requiring the Treasury Department to change the design of U.S. paper currency so that the denomination of bills is easily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired persons.

In its petition to the appeals court, the Justice Department argues that the change would create an undue hardship on the vending machine industry and simply be too expensive to implement.

On Nov. 30, Judge James Robinson, in the case of American Council of the Blind v. Paulson ruled that the Treasury Department is in violation of the federal Rehabilitation Act by not providing a means of "meaningful access" in the handling of paper money by blind persons.

According to the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA), there are 7 million food and beverage machines in the United States and 1.5 million of them accept both $1 and $5 bills. NAMA estimates that it would cost from $200 to $300 to retrofit each vending machine to accept the new currency, a cost NAMA declares "simply not affordable."

Also See: Judge Rules US Paper Money Must Accommodate the Blind