A federal judge has ruled that the US government discriminates against blind and visually-impaired people by keeping all denominations of paper dollar bills the same size and texture.
Of the more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, only the US prints bills that are identical in size and colour in all their denominations.
US District Judge James Robertson has stated that the Treasury Department's failure to design and issue paper currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired individuals violates the Rehabilitation Act.
The judge has ordered the government to develop ways to help blind and visually imparied people to tell bills apart.
The American Council of the Blind - which filed suit against the US Treasury Department in 2002 over this issue - has proposed a number of ways of making the bills more user-friendly for blind people, including printing notes of differing sizes, adding embossed dots or foil to the paper and using raised ink.
Government lawyers have argued that forcing a change in the size or texture of the bills would make it harder to prevent counterfeiting, but Judge Robertson stated that if other countries can print bank notes that blind people can use without counterfeiting problems, then so can the US.
Read Judge Robertson's statement here:
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