Currency Notes for Visually Impaired A Literature Review

Dr. Subir Das, Senior Ergonomist, Inter Disciplinary Design Studies

and
Pallavi Kulkarni, Final Year Student, New Media Design

INTRODUCTION
Money is an item or commodity accepted by people for exchange of goods, services or
resources. Over the years, people have used a wide variety of items for money, such as
seashells, beads, tea, fish hooks, fur, cattle and even tobacco. The first true paper money
originated in China in about seventh century A.D. The idea was conceived by Chang Yung in
the country of Chuh (Morgan, 1969). In India paper money (currency notes) was introduce by
the English Traders towards the later part of the 18th century (Gupta, 2000).
For convenient and confidential exchange of money in every day transaction, it is essential to
identify and denominate currency notes without any difficulties by all sorts of people in all
possible range of circumstances (National Research Council, 1995). But most of the time,
banknotes provide no basis for denominating by people who are blind and have limited vision.
A blind person has to trust others to inform them about denominations of the notes received.
Usually blind people used a number of innovative methods for identification and denomination
of currency notes which are not always fruitful.
Blind and Visually Impaired People
Recent study by WHO (2002) showed that at present globally there are more than 161 million
visually impaired people, of whom 124 million people have low vision and 37 million are blind.
Visual impairment is not distributed uniformly throughout the world. More than 90% of the
worlds visually impaired live in developing countries. There are almost 13 million people in
India who are visually disabled.
The leading causes of low vision and blindness are diseases that are common in old age: agerelated maculopathy, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and optic nerve atrophy. Survey
showed that more than two-thirds of all people with low vision are 65 years of age or older
(Nelson and Dimitrova, 1993) and more than 25 percent of all people over 85 years of age are
visually disabled (Genensky, 1994).
Visual Impairment and Currency Notes
During the last several decades, a number of countries are carrying out research on the
development and incorporation of suitable features so that visually impaired people can identify
and denominate currency notes independently and confidently, with the same ease and
confidence like the sighted people.
Out of 180 countries in the world that issue their own banknotes, around 50 countries print the
banknotes internally; the remainders have their banknotes printed by commercial currency
security printers under contract (National Research Council, 1995). A survey was conducted by
the European Blind Union (EBU, 1994), German Federation of Blind and Visually Impaired
People (DBSV) and the blind organisations of Belgium and Spain. The study revealed that
special training is urgently needed to improve the ability of blind and partially sighted people to
discriminate between the Euro coins and notes with ease. Regarding bank notes discriminating
between the 20 and 50 Euro as well as between the 100 and 200 Euro presented the greatest
difficulties for blind and partially sighted people. The mistakes blind and partially sighted
people made during the trials were serious and would have entailed substantial disadvantages in
real life situations. The ability to discriminate usually varied by country, age and type of visual
impairment.

CURRENCY IDENTIFICATION FEATURES

Tactile features
Humans perceive objects and the immediate environment through multiple sensory channels.
People who are visually impaired possess a very keen sense of touch and hearing. As a
receiving instrument the skin combines important aspects of the eye and the ear, with high
acuity in both space and time (Gunther, 2001) giving it good potential as a communication
medium. The skin can therefore potentially be used as a medium to communicate information.
One common form of tactile output is Braille. Research has developed tactile graphics for blind
people (this mainly takes the form of raised lines and dots on special swell paper). Kurze
(1998) and Challis (2001) have developed guidelines which allow images and objects to be
presented that are understandable through touch by blind users. Tactile displays are now
becoming available in a form that can be easily used in a user interface. Tactons, or tactile icons,
are structured, abstract messages that can be used to communicate information non-visually
(Brewster and Brown, 2004).
Tactile features of the currency notes needs to be explorated with hands and fingers. For
identifying these tactile features we need sensory inputs from two different sources i)
citaneous sense from touch receptors on the skin, and ii) kinesthetic sense from positional
receptors in the muscles and joints of hands and fingers. Durlach et al. (1989) performed a
detailed study of tactile length discrimination and identification using judgments of distance
between the thumb and forefinger.
There are two types of tactile features - i) one that may be incorporated into the currency notes
during manufacture and ii) other one that involve modification of the currency notes after
manufacture.
A number of countries have used different types of tactile features either printed or embossed on
their banknotes with limited success (Koeze, 1990; Cruz V., 1994). Features like tactile
watermark and tactile threads could be incorporated during sheet manufacture to provide local
thickness, which could be detected by touch as is used in Japanese currency (Minoshima, 1994).
As long as the currency notes are new and crisp, the printed tactile marks are easily detectable
(Koeze, 1990), but tactile features usually degrade with wear. The tactile watermark is less
prone to this type of degradation than printed or embossed features. Sheet roughness could be
changed during manufacture but study showed that it does not create enough tactile sensation to
allow denomination of notes. Moreover, the intaglio printing process could flatten or smooth out
the irregularities, as was observed during the development of the Japanese watermark
(Minoshima, 1994).
In Indian currency notes, a special feature in intaglio (different shapes for various
denominations - Rs. 20 vertical rectangle, Rs.50 square, Rs.100 triangle, Rs.500 circle, Rs.1000
diamond), has been introduced to help the visually impaired to identify the denomination. But
most of the visually impaired are not aware of this feature on the currency notes. Besides,
portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, Reserve Bank seal, guarantee and promise clause, Ashoka Pillar
Emblem on the left and RBI Governor's signature are also printed in intaglio (in raised prints),
which can be felt by touch.
More research is required on the effect of raised or tactile features on the ability to manufacture,
stack, and sort banknotes at high speed and to determine what sorts of tactile features would
minimize all these problems.
Size: In more than 120 countries in the world, different-sized currency notes are used to indicate
different denominations. Usually either length or height or sometimes both dimensions are
utilized to differentiate between denominations and higher denominations always have larger
size. In Europe, this feature was recommended by the Royal National Institute of the Blind and

the European Blind Union (EBU, 1994; Jarvis, 1994). Research carried out by the Central Bank
of Switzerland (BEP, 1983) also revealed the usefulness of size-denominated banknotes for
blind people. To give orientation information, an additional feature would be necessary as is
proved by effectiveness of the tactile marks used on Dutch currency (Koeze, 1990).
In 2005, the Netherlands Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted asked DNB (De
Nederlandsche Bank) to incorporate better tactile features on the notes and a greater difference
in length between the notes they use daily mainly the euro 10 and 20 denominations ( Hans,
2006). The European Blind Union recommends a minimum difference of 5 mm between
denominations (EBU, 1994). Legge in 1994 carried out some preliminary experiments on size
variation in length only. In six banknotes, when the differences between denominations were 6
mm, the identification accuracy was 50 percent. But when the differences between the
denominations were 12 mm, identification accuracy improved to 75 percent. In another study
(Brabyn, 1994) on four currency notes, when both length and height are varied by 7 mm and 5
mm, respectively a 90 percent success rate for identification is acheved in a very short
learning time of one and half hour only. This proves that both length and height could be though
of for better identification of different denominations. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP,
1983) studied dimensions of currency notes of 38 countries. Results showed that in 36 countries,
dimensional changes are there both in length and height, whereas, banknotes of Israel and
Netherlands varied in length only. In most of the cases, dimensional changes are not linear
through the series of banknote denominations.

The visually impaired often try to identify the denomination by measuring the currency note
with their hand. Can giving tactile treatment to the currency be an alternative?
Edge Modification: Providing notches, cut corners or modification of edges are the other
possibilities to indicate denominations. Initially, clipping of corners was considered by a
number of countries but is not currently in use. There are possibility of confusion with cut
corners by both people and machines. Moreover, sharp notch may have a tendency to enhance
delimitation or tearing. But different edge patterns, in addition to helping with denomination,
could also provide information on the orientation of the note for visually impaired (National
Research Council, 1995).
Holes: Holes into the currency note could be another useful feature for both orientation and
denomination. Oschwald and Hendricks (1994) suggested that If the holes are confined to the
lower left quadrant of the front of the currency note for all denominations, it would be easy to
orient the notes properly. Studies showed that depressed areas are more difficult to detect from
a background than raised areas. Therefore, holes larger than braille dots would be required for
accurate identification. But there is a need to study the impact of holes on banknote durability,
the psychological matters regarding issuing and using banknotes containing holes and
obviously, the impact of increasing the number of processing steps, wastage of material and the
cost of drilling.

Numerals: Visually disabled people more easily identify numerals, when they are large, highcontrast, usually greater than 40 percent of the full height of the currency notes and are placed
on a simple, uniform background (National Research Council, 1995). Preferably there should be
one large numeral on each side of the currency notes. Organizations supporting visually
disabled people (EBU, 1994; Bennett, 1994) also recommended large numerals on a plain,
uncluttered background to provide high contrast for readability. Though white numerals on
black or black on white background are easy to identify, people with cataract often see better
with white characters on a dark background whereas, in new Canadian $20 note, the numeral is
dark on a light background (National Research Council, 1995).
Color: Just a few days after the introduction of the euro notes, DNB (De Nederlandsche Bank)
received complaint that colour blind citizens hardly see any difference between the colours of
the euro 5 and 10 notes. Later on, DNB made their apologies to the Dutch colour-blind and
promised to make amends in future euro banknote series (Hans, 2006).
Although people have various degrees of color vision, if each currency note value is assigned a
predominant colour, it can serve as a dominant aid specifically for those persons with low vision
who could not make out of numerals but are able to discriminate different colours. Canadian
banknotes have a dominant colour which varied by denominations. EUR 10 banknote is red and
the EUR 20 is blue. Even where countries use same-size banknotes for each denomination, they
use a clearly differentiated color scheme for all denominations (National Research Council,
1995).
Shapes and Coarse Patterns: Geometric shapes and coarse patterns large and printed on a
clear or uncluttered background, could also be used to denote denominations, as are currently in
use on British currency (Jarvis, 1994). Some learning time is necessary to develop a logical
connection between geometric shape and current note values.
DEVICES FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Simple size-guide template made with a fixed alignment corner and varying lengths may act as
an educational aid to blind people. Oschwald and Hendricks (1994) demonstrated a device
template that contains notches related to the different note values.
A number of electronic devices are also available for blind and partially sighted people not only
to recognize and denominate but also to authenticate currency notes. The quality of its
performance depends mainly on the quality of the currency note inserted. But most of these
devices cost between $300 and $400, which puts them out of reach for a large number of blind
people (Brunson, 2003). Canada is currently promoting the use of a device, in recognizing
different denominations, to assist almost 8,000 blind Canadians who cannot benefit from the
large numerals and colors on the Canadian banknotes.
For ease of identification, currency notes should also be provided with some machine-readable
features. England and Italy have incorporated techniques of using magnetic thread in bank notes
that contained a coding unique to each denomination. A group of researchers are trying to
incorporate fluorescent, magnetic, or infrared reactive inks to be incorporated in a simple bar
code arrangement to allow for basic machine interrogation. These types of codes are used on
Scottish banknotes and Eastern Caribbean Central Bank currency. Similarly, magnetic bar
coding is used on the newer series of U.S. dollar bills and could be used as the basis for device
design (National Research Council, 1995).
CONCLUSION
Currency notes should always be accessible to people who are blind and visually impaired.
Based on long-term research and recommendations from blind peoples organizations, most of

the countries have already incorporated multiple features like tactile marks, large numerals,
colour coding, etc. to increase the number of denominational cues. But what is lacking is the
proper training programme for the blind and visually impaired. There is also a need to develop
smaller, faster and low-cost denomination devices to denominate and at the same time
authenticate the currency notes.
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