How Blind People Identify Paper Money

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by Tom Babinszki

Before you pay for a movie ticket or for a new pair of shoes, you would always make sure you’re handing the seller the right amount. This is really simple, you just have to give a quick look at your money, take out the right amount, and that's it.

But for people who cannot see, this becomes a difficult task. Here, we will talk about the problem faced by blind people, and discuss the possible solutions for this issue.

The Problem with Paper Money

In countries such as the U.S., all denominations of money have similar sizes. This makes it very difficult for blind people to distinguish one denomination from another.

Solutions Done By Governments

Governments have devised a way to help the blind tell apart different money denominations. In countries such as Australia and Malaysia, each denomination of money has a distinct width and length. Along with this, blind people can use a small card device to quickly measure and distinguish money.

Meanwhile, a more specific approach has been done by the Canadian government. In Canada, money is being produced such that there are Braille dots in the bills that represent a specific denomination. Blind people can in turn find the corner containing the Braille dots and read them to know the amount they are holding.

Solutions Done By Blind People
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