Court Says Money Discriminates against Blind People

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austin

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A friend called me to alert me to this. I remember in 2006, when the courts originally said that the treasury department had to do something about the problem blind people have when dealing with money. The treasury department said they didn't have to do anything about it. "Shut up and deal with it." Now, the U.S. Court of appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld the decision. Now the treasury department must redesign money so that the blind can distinguish between the bills.

This seems simple enough - after all, many European countries have done this for years. I remember a family vacation to England in 2000, which also included a vacation from the vacation to Amsterdam. I remember coins and perhaps bills with braille on them, which do not work so well, since braille can get stamped down easily. Bills with high contrast patterns printed with the ink work well, as the patterns will remain throughout the bill's life. I hope they pick a solution that works, instead of some moronic solution. Why, the most recent redesign of the $5 bill includes a large "5" in purple, to help people with vision problems. Never mind that if someone can't see thefive it does them no good.

I have a word to say about the National Federation of the Blind. People outside the blind community would not know their reputation. When the government tried to overturn the ruling, the NFB sided with the government. I will illustrate. Blind people fall into cane users and dog users. Generally, everyone falls under one of those categories, and forcing them to do the other does not work. The NFB has had less than sympathetic views towards guide dogs, offending dog owners. I use a cane, so know more about that side. I like my light-weight graphite cane. You lose a little feedback, but you make up for it in maneuverability.
Most cane users like folding canes, due to their obvious convenience. Rigid canes also exist, and since they only have one solid piece, they do have more tactile feedback, making some users prefer them. The NFB has these NFB Canes that they insist everyone use at canepoint. They have a totally rigid design, a boring grip, and where most canes have a nylon tip, these have a metal disk on the end that looks like the head of a big clamp nail thing or something. I don't know, you have to see or feel one. I will admit, they do provide excellent feedback, and remain fairly maneuverable, but you will always know the sound of a blind person using one walking down a hallway. Clack clack clack. Rigid, functional, but not convenient and they stand out, even at blind conventions. That basically summarizes the reputation of the NFB. I don't know why they opposed the ruling, but I don't need to. Blind people outside of the NFB don't really take them seriously anyway. At their Philly convention, the fire alarm went off at like 08:00 in the morning. Imagine thousands of confused blind people tiredly staggering down flights of fire escape stairs and you've got it. Fortunately, we met up with a friend by chance and retired to his room to just go totally insane over the whole matter and order tons of food.

I have only one statement to make about today's ruling: ABOUT DAMN TIME! It took you long enough!

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