[nfb-talk] British Money:
Peter Donahue
pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net
Sun Dec 17 13:11:47 CST 2006
Good afternoon everyone,
Yup the British have their currency in different sizes and colors and
many other so-called, "Helps for the blind." I have personally had
correspondence with blind people in the UK some of whom are very frustrated
with the lack of quality services for the blind, and the lack of consumerism
among the UK blind. Yes you'll find British currency that can be
distinguished by a blind person independently at the expense of a higher
unemployment rate among the UK blind. They have audible traffic signals at
the expense of not having adult orientation and adjustment centers like
those operated by the NFB and some state programs for the blind in the U.S.
They have detectable warnings at curbs, along train platform edges, and in
other places, but must contend with a very repressive guide dog program that
among other things still believes that guide dogs cannot travel in an
airplane cabin for longer than 5 hours despite the fact that several guide
dog teams have flown to the UK from New Zealand, Australia, and several
destinations and both have traveled in the cabin without incident. They
refused to replace a guide dog for a lady whose dog recently retired. This
woman needs to use escalators to get too and from work in London. The Guide
Dogs for the Blind Association refused to give her a replacement guide dog
unless she agreed not to use it on escalators; something guide dog users in
other countries do routinely. I know because I've had personal
correspondence with this woman via E--mail and on the phone to discuss this
issue. We hoped to help her obtain her next dog from a non-UK guide dog
program that trains its dogs to work on escalators, but she has run in to
difficulty with guide dog organizations here and in Europe who refused to
place one of their dogs in the UK when at least one of our guide dog
programs has successfully placed dogs in Hawaii and Singapore despite the
strict importation requirements.
The British blind have identifiable currency, but they do not have Braille
production facilities like those here in the U.S.
Many of the things mentioned above are also true of many other countries
throughout the World. Yes they have all of the so-called, "Bells and
whistles" that supposedly make the blind independent, but you won't find
national research and training institutes like our NFB Jernigan Institute
that is operated by the blind for the blind in any of these countries. And
we're spending our time crying over the design of our currency when in
reality we're rich compared to the blind of other nations. I hope that
during this holiday season we'll take the time to count our blessings and be
thankful for what we do have. Most importantly a strong organization of the
blind whose leaders from Dr. TenBroek to the present understand what we as
blind people truly need, and what we do not. Having currency we can identify
independently would be nice, but not at the terrible price the blind of
other countries have paid for such, "Accommodations." I personally wish this
point would be stressed more when our national office and affiliates discuss
this issue in news stories and with others. That's quite a blessing.
Peter Donahue
----- Original Message -----
From: "Corey Cook" <ccook55 at sc.rr.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 11:08 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] British Money:
this is interesting.
thanks
Corey Cook
ccook55 at sc.rr.com
MSN; romans815 at earthlink.net
AIM: goldadore922
BLOG: http://www.xanga.com/ciu_nice_guy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenneth Chrane" <kenneth.chrane at verizon.net>
To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet NFB-Talk Mailing List"
<NFB-Talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <CSDB-ALUMNI at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 9:25 PM
Subject: [nfb-talk] British Money:
Each British banknote is approximately 7mm (3 tenths of an inch) longer and
5mm (2 tenths of an
inch) wider than it's denominational predecessor.
Five pound note, blue
135mm x 70mm (approx.)
Ten pound note, brown
142mm x 75mm (approx.)
Twenty pound note, purple
149mm x 80mm (approx.)
Fifty pound note, red.
156mm x 85mm (approx.)
& The designs on each note feature historical characters as follows:
£5 - Elizabeth Fry - The images on the back of the note are related to the
life and work of this
social reformer. The main illustration shows Elizabeth Fry reading to
prisoners at Newgate. In
recognition of her work she was awarded the key to the prison and this is
used in the design of the
banknote.
£10 - Charles Darwin - As a young man Darwin was employed as the naturalist
on board the ship HMS
Beagle an illustration of which is depicted on the back of the note. Also
pictured is an
illustration of Darwin 's own magnifying lens and the flora and fauna that
he may have come across
on his travels.
£20 - Sir Edward Elgar - Elgar spent the majority of his life in Worcester
and the first performance
of the full version of his Enigma Variations took place in Worcester
Cathedral at the 1899 Three
Choirs Festival. An image of the west face of the cathedral is included in
the design on the back of
the note.
£50 - Sir John Houblon - Houblon was the first Governor of the Bank of
England and the current £50
note was issued during the same year (1994) as the Bank celebrated its 300th
anniversary. The design
on the back of the note includes an image of Houblon's house in Threadneedle
Street on the site of
the Bank's present building.
(from the Bank of England website).
Naturally all notes feature Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II and also
have a metallic thread as
well as a hologram. The £50 note has a foil patch on the front near the
portrait of the queen,
showing a reflective rose and medallion.
Hope this is of interest.
I couldn't believe the American money last time I was over there, it's
surely time they did
something to improve it. Last time I was in the states if it wasn't for
the honesty of one teller
in an NC shopping mall, I would have accidentally paid 101 dollars instead
of 6 dollars, for 2 ice
creams! And by the way I'm a sighted partner with 20/20 vision.
Our smallest note, the fiver, it currently worth about 9 dollars 77 cents,
and with the US dollar
only worth about 51 pence here, it's tempting to say the dollar bill should
be scrapped! In the
British experience when a new note or coin is introduced it has always been
done gradually, with
advance notice and the old coin or note being still in circulation
simultaneously with the new,
whilst the old one is gradually phased out. This happened with the half
pence coin (now gone) as
well as the old large ten pence pieces (now gone) and the old pound note
(now also gone). Doing it
that way allowed time for people to get used to the change and for vending
machines etc, to catch
up.
Best to all and my compliments of the Christmas Season, to all at the peeps.
And whether your
money is accessible or not, I hope you all get lots of it!!
Leon Gilbert (UK). A K A "Search Engine" on the peeps.
(Personal email lwg at blueyonder.co.uk )
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Beasley" <peter at tafn.org.uk>
To: <peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 6:53 PM
Subject: Re: [peeps-talk] Accessible Money
I didn't say in my original post, but as well as being different sizes, they
are also different
colours. The narrowest note is the £5 and the widest the £50. You can
distinguish the different
widths by placing a note between your index and middle finger.
Hope this helps.
----- Original Message -----
From: delma bliss
To: peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 6:45 PM
Subject: Re: [peeps-talk] Accessible Money
dear peter
can you tell me what your money is like
what is the smallest to the largest size bills
are they more then 1 color?
the reason i am asking
i hope to be moving to the u k
and it would be nice to no what bills are whitch.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jennifer Thomas" <jen at nc.rr.com>
To: <peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [peeps-talk] Accessible Money
> sure wish we had that set up, peter.
> At 11:46 AM 12/14/2006, you wrote:
>
>>Here in the UK, our bank notes vary in widthwith
>>the £5 being the narrowest and the £50 the widest.
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: tiffany black
>>To: <mailto:peeps-talk%40yahoogroups.com>peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com
>>Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 4:30 PM
>>Subject: RE: [peeps-talk] Accessible Money
>>
>>Good to know Jennifer. Thanks.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From:
>><mailto:peeps-talk%40yahoogroups.com>peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com
>>[mailto:peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com] On
>>Behalf Of Jennifer Thomas
>>Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:37 AM
>>To: <mailto:peeps-talk%40yahoogroups.com>peeps-talk at yahoogroups.com
>>Subject: [peeps-talk] Accessible Money
>>
>>AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND (ACB) PUBLIC RELATIONS
>>COMMITTEE
>>1055 E. Flamingo Rd., Ste. 404, Las Vegas, NV 89119
>>(702) 735-2484 Fax (702) 733-7570
>><mailto:rsanders%40acb.org>rsanders at acb.org
>>**********************************************************
>>
>>December 12, 2006
>>
>>American Council of the Blind Vows to Continue the Battle for Accessible
>>Paper Currency in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals
>>
>>For Immediate Release
>>
>>For additional information contact Ralph Sanders.
>>
>>The American Council of the Blind (ACB) has made clear its intention to
>>continue the court battle for accessible currency pursuant to the ruling
>>in
>>its favor by the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia and
>>despite opposition by the Bush Administration.
>>
>>"We anticipated that the U.S. Department of the Treasury would appeal
the
>>DC
>>District Court ruling and were not surprised when The Department of
>>Justice
>>filed an appeal today on behalf of Treasury," said Christopher Gray,
ACB's
>>President.
>>
>>"Treasury complains about the costs of making currency accessible," Gray
>>added "but they are not at all concerned about the cost of litigation."
>>
>>"We are committed to this fight even to the Supreme Court, if necessary,
>>because it is the right thing to do, and because it is the law of the
>>United
>>States," Gray said.
>>
>>Melanie Brunson, American Council of the Blind's Executive Director was
>>not
>>immediately available for comment. She is finishing up a week long trip
to
>>Tokyo, Japan where she was a featured speaker addressing an
international
>>conference on accessibility to audio and video programming for the blind
>>and
>>visually impaired.
>>
>>Estimates of the numbers of blind and visually impaired Americans who
will
>>benefit from accessible paper currency range from 3.3 million to 10
>>million.
>>This estimate, however, does not take into account the tens of millions
of
>>Americans who are beginning to experience sight loss because of age. The
>>senior citizens are often not included in the visually impaired
category,
>>but many of them express problems with reading currency in dim light,
>>particularly at night in gas stations and convenience stores.
>>
>>"It seems to us that the argument of those groups opposing our position
is
>>poorly founded since no specific method of making the currency
accessible
>>has been put forward," Gray said. "Estimates of potential costs to
vending
>>machine operators and to cash register changes are simply unfounded at
>>this
>>time."
>>
>>In reaching his ruling in the Federal District Court, Judge James
>>Robertson
>>noted that of 180 nations printing paper currency only the United States
>>makes no effort to make the currency accessible without vision.
>>
>>As for small elements within the blind community who have voiced
>>opposition
>>Gray said that it is hard to find unanimity within any sector of the
>>American society on any issue. "The blind community would not have
>>succeeded
>>in moving into active participation in any sector of our society without
>>steps to make material generated in print accessible in some way from
>>printed books to computer screens," Gray said.
>>"We still have a long way to go to level the playing field and the
>>currency
>>suit is merely one effort among many sponsored by the American Council
of
>>the Blind," he said.
>>
>>The American Council of the Blind is the largest consumer based
>>organization
>>of blind and visually impaired Americans advocating for the rights of
>>blind
>>Americans. Organized through more than seventy affiliates in every
>>community
>>in the United States, the organization is dedicated to making it
possible
>>for blind and visually impaired Americans to participate fully in every
>>aspect of American society. For more information on the American Council
>>of
>>the Blind, and the issues it supports visit www.acb.org.
>>
>>For The People provides this list as a service and does not necessarily
>>endorse or vouch for the validity of information which list members may
>>post
>>to it.
>>Keep in mind, that items forwarded to this list, must relate to
Blindness
>>or
>>Physical Disability.
>>Please Note; The standard For The People policy for all e-mail lists
>>prohibits personal attacks or inflammatory remarks.
>>Also neither Yahoo nor For The People Policy allows the use of Profanity
>>or
>>vulgar language on this list To post material to this list send to;
>><mailto:peeps-talk%40Yahoogroups.com>peeps-talk at Yahoogroups.com
>>To change the status of this list, press Enter on
>>the appropriate choice and send a blank e-mail.
>>Set to no mail:
>>mailto:peeps-talk-nomail at yahoogroups.com
>>Return to normal status:
>>mailto:peeps-talk-normal at yahoogroups.com
>>You will receive a confirmation of the change of status from Yahoo.
>>You may subscribe to any of our other lists by going to:
>><http://for-the-people.com>http://for-the-people.com
>>Click on the E-Mail link near the bottom of the page. You will find
>>subscription and unsubscription links for all our lists, as well as
>>descriptions of the focus for each list.
>>
>>Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>
>
>
> For The People provides this list as a service and does not necessarily
> endorse or
> vouch for the validity of information which list members may post to it.
> Keep in mind, that items forwarded to this list, must relate to
Blindness
> or
> Physical Disability.
> Please Note; The standard For The People policy for all e-mail lists
> prohibits personal attacks or inflammatory remarks.
> Also neither Yahoo nor For The People Policy allows the use of Profanity
> or
> vulgar language on this list
> To post material to this list send to;
> peeps-talk at Yahoogroups.com
> To change the status of this list, press Enter on the appropriate choice
> and
> send a blank e-mail.
> Set to no mail:
> mailto:peeps-talk-nomail at yahoogroups.com
> Return to normal status:
> mailto:peeps-talk-normal at yahoogroups.com
> You will receive a confirmation of the change of status from Yahoo.
> You may subscribe to any of our other lists by going to:
> http://for-the-people.com
> Click on the E-Mail link near the bottom of the page. You will find
> subscription and unsubscription links for all our lists, as well as
> descriptions of the focus for each list.
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date:
> 12/13/2006
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
_______________________________________________
nfb-talk mailing list
nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.21/589 - Release Date: 12/15/2006
_______________________________________________
nfb-talk mailing list
nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
More information about the nfb-talk
mailing list