[gui-talk] Fwd: Press Release on AccessibleCurrency FinalOrder

[Steve Pattison]

Eric Bridges ebridges at acb.org 10/6/2008 11:47 AM >>>

American Council of the Blind

                                    1155 15th St. NW, Suite 1004 .
Washington, DC 20005 . Tel: (202) 467-5081  Fax: (202) 467-5085

For Immediate Release
Contact: Eric Bridges, Director of Advocacy & Governmental Affairs
Phone: (202) 467-5081

Court Says Next Gen Currency Must Be Accessible to the Blind

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2008 - Late Friday afternoon, the American Council 
of
the Blind (ACB) was advised that District Judge James Robertson had 
rendered
his final order in the historic case in which the Council sought 
currency
that is independently identifiable by people who are blind.
Judge Robertson ruled:

1. IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the defendant has violated Section 
504 of
the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide meaningful access to United
States currency for blind and other visually impaired persons.

2. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AND DECREED that defendant take such steps as 
may
be required to provide meaningful access to United States currency for 
blind
and other visually impaired persons, which steps shall be completed, in
connection with each denomination of currency, not later than the date 
when
a redesign of that denomination is next approved by the Secretary of the
Treasury after the entry of this order and judgment.

3. This Order and Judgment does not apply to the one-dollar ($1) note, 
and
does not require the defendant to make any changes to the one-dollar 
($1)
note. This Order and Judgment does not apply to changing the Series year 
or
the signatures of the Secretary of the Treasury or the Treasurer of the
United States on each note, nor to changing the machine-readable 
features on
the notes that are not visible to the naked eye. Notwithstanding 
paragraph 2
above, given that the defendant is currently engaged in implementing a
redesign of the $100 note ("the NextGen $100"), the defendant need not
comply with paragraph 2 above in connection with the NextGen $100 note 
until
the date when another redesign of such denomination is next approved by 
the
Secretary of the Treasury after the redesign that is currently in 
progress.

4. The defendant shall file periodic status reports describing the steps
taken to implement this Order and Judgment.  The first such status 
report
shall be filed no later than March 16, 2009, and each succeeding report
shall be filed every six months thereafter, until the defendant has 
fully
complied with this Order and Judgment.

ACB President Mitch Pomerantz said, "This has been a very long time in
coming, but it is certainly worth the wait.  The decision has monumental
ramifications for people all across this country who are blind or 
visually
impaired."

ACB brought suit against the United States Department of the Treasury in
2002.  This action was taken after many attempts over several years to 
get
the Treasury Department to address the concerns of this nation's blind
community.  People who are blind have no means of independently
distinguishing between a one-dollar bill and a hundred-dollar bill. 
Since
more than 180 other countries around the world have made such 
identification
possible by their citizens, and since cash plays such a central role in
American life today, it was felt that legal action to address this
fundamental issue was imperative.  ACB believes that this action, taken 
on
behalf of its more than 20,000 members, was vindicated by the Court's
decision.

The American Council of the Blind is the nation's leading consumer-based
advocacy organization working on behalf of blind and visually impaired
Americans and has more than 70 state and special-interest affiliates
throughout the United States. The national office of the organization is
located in Washington, D.C. For more information about the American 
Council
of the Blind, visit the web site at www.acb.org <http://www.acb.org/> , 
or
call (202) 467-5081 or 1-800-424-8666.

Eric Bridges
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
American Council of the Blind
Phone: (202) 467-5081
Fax: (202) 467-5085

Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
Windows Live Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype:  steve1963