View source for Blind bill folding

{{Short description|Folding of dollar bills by the blind to be identified by feel}}
{{use mdy dates |date=November 2022}}
In the United States, some blind or otherwise visually-impaired people fold dollar bills in specific ways so that they can identify the denominations of the bills by feel.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Würdemann |first=Henry Vanderbilt |author2=Black, Nelson Miles |title=Ophthalmology: Essays, Abstracts and Reviews |publisher=[[American Medical Association]] press |year=1913 |location=Milwaukee |page=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BB2gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA518 }}</ref> Though some people have their own [[Idiosyncrasy|idiosyncratic]] systems, there is a method recommended by the [[American Foundation for the Blind]]:
<blockquote>
*''Leave $1 bills unfolded.''
*''Fold $5 bills lengthwise.''
*''Fold $10 bills by width.''
*''Fold $20 bills lengthwise and then by width. Or you can fold them just lengthwise and put them in a separate section of your wallet.''<ref>{{cite web |title=Keeping Track of Money |publisher=[[American Foundation for the Blind]] |url=http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?DocumentID=2232 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616153423/http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?DocumentID=2232 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-06-16 |access-date=2013-06-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://blindcoincollector.com/2019/02/18/how-blind-people-identify-paper-money/|title=How blind people identify paper money|date=18 February 2019 |access-date=2019-12-23}}</ref></blockquote>
Unlike the banknotes of most countries, all denominations of United States paper money are the same size, preventing the visually impaired from identifying bills by feel. This alleged lack of access for the blind led to a 2002 court case, ''[[American Council of the Blind v. Paulson]]''. In 2006, U.S. District Judge [[James Robertson (judge)|James Robertson]] ruled that the American bills gave an undue burden to the blind and denied them "meaningful access" to the U.S. currency system.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-12-currency-redesign_x.htm|title=Government appeals currency redesign|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=2006-12-13|access-date=2010-03-26}}</ref> Robertson accepted the plaintiff's argument that current practice violates Section 504 of the [[1973 Rehabilitation Act]].<ref name="amconbli">{{cite web | author= CNNMoney.com | author-link= CNNMoney.com | date=2006-11-29 | url= https://money.cnn.com/2006/11/28/markets/treasury_ruling/index.htm?postversion=2006112818 | title= Judge rules paper money unfair to blind | access-date=2008-02-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.acb.org/nebraska/legislation/accessible-currency/press-releases/final-order.html |title=Court Says Next Gen Currency Must Be Accessible to the Blind |access-date=2015-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128213820/http://www.acb.org/nebraska/legislation/accessible-currency/press-releases/final-order.html |archive-date=2008-11-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=disablednyc.com|url=http://www.disablednyc.com/showthread.php?t=576|access-date=2021-05-19|website=www.disablednyc.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-01-12|title=Progress Update: United States Accessible Currency Project for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons|url=https://visionaware.org/blog/visionaware-blog/progress-update-united-states-accessible-currency-project-for-blind-and-visually-impaired-persons/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=VisionAware|language=en-US}}</ref> As a result of the court's injunction, the [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] is planning to implement a raised tactile feature in the next redesign of each note, except the $1 (which it is by law not allowed to redesign).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/tre.html |work=[[Office of Management and Budget]] | title= Administrative Provisions : Department of the Treasury |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] | access-date=2012-01-02}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Accessibility]]
[[Category:Blindness in the United States]]
[[Category:Paper money of the United States]]
[[Category:Paper folding]]