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V17 2014 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 23, June 1, 2014, Article 25

MORE ON BANKNOTES FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Kavan Ratnatunga submitted these thoughts on banknotes for the visually impaired. Thanks. -Editor

I got interested in the statement that

"Of the 180 countries that issue banknotes, only 23 use tactile markings such as raised dots, grooves or symbols"

Currency Features for Visually Impaired People I found an old 1995 document on "Currency Features for Visually Impaired People". which listed in Appendix D table D-1 (pages 106-112) the names of 16 countries in 171 listed. Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Israel, Namibia, Netherlands Antilles, South Africa, Switzerland, Uruguay and 7 countries which had on some denominations Colombia, Cyprus, Germany, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru.

That Totals exactly 23 in 1994 but Belgium, Netherlands and Germany now use a common Euro currency on which I did not see tactile features. So that leaves 20. Sri Lanka currency got such dots in an issue dated 2010 and I wondering what are the other 2 progressive countries over 20 years, or are there more.

To read the complete article, see: Currency Features for Visually Impaired People (www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4828&page=R1)

I also found this blog entry by a graphic designer:

Over the weekend I was reading a review copy of Eric Karjaluoto’s new book, The Design Method. There’s a page where he mentions how Canadian banknotes are printed with a tactile feature in the corner so the visually impaired can easily tell what denomination they’re holding.

canadian-banknote-tactile

The article linked to an applet from www.looktel.com .

See these YouTube videos:
LookTel Money Reader iPhone app - real time object recognition (/www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvfDnGMPrkI)
LookTel Money Reader 2.0 iPhone app (www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HMVXEZNeNM)

But I really liked the comment, "why would a blind person use a touchscreen phone?" which justifies existence of Smart Phones which are NOT touchscreen, for the Blind and persons like me, who don't like touchscreens.

To read the complete article, see: Banknotes for the visually impaired (www.davidairey.com/banknotes-for-the-visually-impaired/)

So.. can anyone tell us which countries incorporate features for the blind on their banknotes today? -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: CAMPAIGN FOR TACTILE AUSTRALIAN BANKNOTES (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n22a23.html)

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Wayne Homren, Editor

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The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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