I heard an audio report about this at http://www.federalNewsRadio.com

A link on their page provides a text report related to the audio clip.

from the url
http://www.wtopnews.com/news/newsdetail.cfm?newsid=556028



07-01-02


By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON (AP) _ As the Treasury Department gears up to reformat the look of
U.S. currency, the blind have a message for all greenback designers: Don't
forget
us.

The American Council of the Blind, which seeks to improve conditions for the
visually impaired, has sued the Treasury Department to force its way into
the
currency revamping process.

"They are going to redesign the money next year," said Melanie Brunson, the
council's advocacy director. "We felt that since this process already is
under
way, when you do that, remember us."

The Treasury Department did not comment on the lawsuit when it was filed in
Washington, D.C., on May 3. Government attorneys have until Aug. 15 to
respond
to the suit, Brunson said.

In the last redesign of the nation's paper currency, Benjamin Franklin,
whose face is on the $100 bill, got the first makeover in 1996. He was
followed
by Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill in 1997 and Andrew Jackson's $20 bill a
year later. Bills for $5 and $10 followed.

But council spokesman Ralph Sanders, who is blind, said some of his visually
impaired friends consider the new money even harder to make out than the old
bills.

"It's incredible the United States remains this bastion of indiscernible
currency where the Brits and Europeans have been doing this for decades," he
said.

"Time has come in this country where blind people should not have to ask,
`What bill is this?' or `What bill is that?'" said Chris Gray, the council's
president,
in his report to the group's board at its national convention Saturday at a
west Houston hotel.

The group is not promoting a specific change that would help blind and
sight-impaired Americans sift through their money, but hopes the government
will
study an array of options that would be helpful.

A major step could be offering denominations in different colors or sizes
with large-print features, like many other countries, Brunson said. Braille
and
textures also are possibilities, although the markings are prone to wearing
off.

"We did not specify a particular option because, primarily, at this point
we're trying to get the dialogue going," Brunson said. The currency change
was
proposed to thwart counterfeiters.

Gray estimated 150 countries print currency with blind accessibility in
mind.

"Let's make our country the 151st," said Gray, to applause from a boardroom
filled with blind and sight-impaired council officials.


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