[nfb-talk] Fw: [acb-l] Associated Press Reports ACB's VictoryRequiring Accessable Currency

[S Farwaneh]

I find it ironic that ACB would pressure the government to make money or
tax  forms accessible, when they themselves fail to make their national
convention preregistration forms accessible to their own members. When I
was an ACB member 12 years or so ago, I had a hard time filling out the
preregistration form which was in print; I suggested brailing it, retyping
it, recording it, but I was told that they will only accept the original
print form and nothing else; the excuse is that they hire sighted people
with subminimum wages who for some reason  can only access the original
form. I paid the additional $5 fee for late registration for different
sessions at two conventions, then I decided to quit (there were many other
reasons for abandoning ACB as well). I do not know what the present
situation is with their preregistration forms, but my point is that they
need to adopt their own accessibility standards before imposing it on the
government, and for such a frivolous cause. We should be putting our energy
into web accessibility rather than paper money, which we already handle
successfully and have been for years.

Samira



At 11:58 AM 11/29/06 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi This is Ken Chrane.
>ACB is pushing paper money, and if they want to put it in Braille, that is 
>fine.
>It will be a victory for ACB, but how about us?
>Is this new measure being cramed down our throats?
>We will have to see.
>
>Kenneth Chrane
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "James Aldrich" <jkaldrich at qwest.net>
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 10:45 PM
>Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: [acb-l] Associated Press Reports ACB's 
>VictoryRequiring Accessable Currency
>
>
>Hello all,
>
>Since this subject has come up, here is the material which brought this
>forth.  ACB has advocated for the printing of braille money or some kind of
>identification for our paper currency.  This should be interesting indeed as
>to how it will play out.  No doubt somebody might say that federal judge is
>too pushy and the whole thing could be thrown out.  This is something to be
>watched.
>
>Jim Aldrich
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Tom Mills" <tmills79 at bellsouth.net>
>To: <acb-l at acb.org>
>Cc: <alabama at acb.org>; "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List"
><blindlaw at nfbnet.org>; <4alabama at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 3:28 PM
>Subject: [acb-l] Associated Press Reports ACB's Victory Requiring Accessable
>Currency
>
>
>Judge: make bills recognizable to blind
>11/28/2006, 4:49 p.m. ET
>By MATT APUZZO
>The Associated Press
>WASHINGTON (AP) - By keeping all U.S. currency the same size and texture,
>the government
>has denied blind people meaningful access to money, a federal judge said
>Tuesday.
>U.S. District Judge James Robertson said the Treasury Department has
>violated the
>law, and he ordered the government to come up with ways for the blind to
>tell bills
>apart.
>He said he wouldn't tell officials how to fix the problem, but he ordered
>them to
>begin working on it within 10 days. The American Council of the Blind has
>proposed
>several options, including printing bills of differing sizes, adding
>embossed dots
>or foil to the paper or using raised ink.
>"Of the more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, only the United
>States
>prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their
>denominations," Robertson
>wrote. "More than 100 of the other issuers vary their bills in size
>according to
>denomination, and every other issuer includes at least some features that
>help the
>visually impaired."
>Government attorneys argued that forcing the Treasury Department to change
>the size
>of the bills or add texture would make it harder to prevent counterfeiting.
>Robertson
>was not swayed.
>"The fact that each of these features is currently used in other currencies
>suggests
>that, at least on the face of things, such accommodations are reasonable,"
>he wrote.
>He said the government was violating the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits
>discrimination
>on the basis of disability in government programs. The opinion came after a
>four-year
>legal fight.
>"It's a landmark decision. I believe it will benefit millions of people,"
>said Jeffrey
>A. Lovitky, attorney for plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
>Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
>This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
>© 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.
>
>
>
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Samira Farwaneh
Assistant Professor, Arabic Language and Linguistics
Department of Near Eastern Studies
Department of Linguistics
Second Language Acquisition and Teaching Program
Louise Foucar Marshall Building
845 N Park Avenue, Room 440
PO BOX 210158B
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona  85721-0158B
Phone: (520) 621-8629 Or 621-8012
Fax: (520) 621-2333