The Committee on Currency Features Usable by the Visually Impaired would like to acknowledge the contributions of the individuals who made presentations or submitted statements at the workshop held in March, 1994. The information presented helped the committee to understand the needs of the various communities of people who are blind and those with low vision. The understanding that the committee gained about the state of research in visual and tactile perception assisted them in judging proposed currency features against firm technical criteria.
The committee acknowledges the following persons representing groups of blind and visually disabled people for their input in their areas of specialization:
Mr. George Abbott, Randolph-Sheppard Foundation: needs of the blind vendor communityMr. Dominick D. Bax, The Jewish Guild for the Blind: needs of blind and visually disabled individuals, especially in rehabilitation programs
Ms. Cherie Hendricks: currency identification system
Ms. Billie Jean Hill, American Council of Citizens with Low Vision: needs of the low-vision communities
Mr. Stephen King, Royal National Institute for the Blind: approaches used by the United Kingdom and the European Union
Mr. Marc Maurer, National Federation of the Blind: needs of the blind community
Mr. Oral Miller, American Council of the Blind: needs of the blind community
Ms. Kathleen Monroe, Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation (RP): changes in vision with RP progression, needs of the RP community
Mr. J. F. Oschwald: currency identification system
Mr. Brian Wallach, The Lighthouse, Inc.: needs of the blind community
The committee acknowledges the following representatives of the research community:
Dr. Aries Arditi, Lighthouse Research Institute: color contrast for target identificationProfessor Ian Bailey, University of California, Berkeley: visual target identification
Professor Karlene Ball, Western Kentucky University: vision changes with aging, design for visual target perception
Professor Roger Cholewiak, Princeton University: vibrotactile perception
Professor James Craig, Indiana University: tactile perception
Professor Emerson Foulke, Braille Research Center and University of Louisville: readability of braille and tactile symbols
Dr. Sam Genensky, Center for the Partially Sighted: low-vision population statistics
Professor Morton Heller, Winston-Salem University: tactile perception
Professor Gary Rubin, Lions Vision Center, Johns Hopkins University: vision changes with aging
Dr. Elliot Schreier, American Foundation for the Blind: low-vision population statistics, devices for currency identification
The committee would like to acknowledge the generosity of the following representatives of foreign banks and currency printing authorities in sharing information on their methods and experiences in manufacturing banknotes with various features that can be used by visually disabled people:
Mr. W. Farber, Security Printing Works, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, AustriaMr. H. Blanckaert and Mr. J. Renders, Département Imprimerie, Banque National de Belgique, Belgium
Mr. Donald Bennett, Department of Banking Operations, Bank of Canada
Ms. Micheline Lefebvre-Manthorp, Bank of Canada
Mr. Rafael Cruz V., Subgerente Industrial, Banco de la República, Colombia
Mr. Alex Jarvis, Bank of England Printing Works
Mr. J. Faou, Service de l'Imprimerie, France
Mr. Sándor Péterfi, Hungarian Banknote Printing Corporation
Mr. E. Soekarna, Indonesian Government Security Printing and Minting Company
Mr. Shlomo Sirkis, Currency Department, Bank of Israel
Mr. Yoshio Minoshima, General Coordination Division, Printing Bureau, Japan
Ing. Luis. J. Marentes M., Banco de Mexico
Mr. A. Benali and Mr. M. Iraqi, Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco
Dr. Peter Koeze, De Nederlandsche Bank, The Netherlands
Mr. Jan Erik Johansen and Mr. Johs. Bjørgo, Norges Bank Seddeltrykkeri, Norway
Mr. Jaime Gaiteiro, Fabrica National de Moneda y Timbre, Spain
Mr. Tommy Blomberg, Printing Division, AB Tumba Bruk, Sweden
Mr. P. Trachsel and Mr. M. Meroni, Banque Nationale Suisse, Switzerland
Mr. Oscar Knapp, Embassy of Switzerland
Mr. Chumpol Santipong, Bank of Thailand
The Director and Assistant Director of the Branch of the Banknote Printing Plant, Central Bank of Turkey
Special recognition goes to Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, and its staff, for hosting a meeting and tour of their research facility for the committee.
The following members of the Minnesota Laboratory for Low Vision Research are acknowledged for their contributions to measurements conducted by a member of the committee: Dr. J. Stephen Mansfield, Mr. Andrew Luebker, and Ms. Kaya Garcia. Thanks also go to the following employees of the James River Corporation who participated in a brainstroming session on features: Mr. Robert Aloisi, Mr. Robert Patterson, Mr. Daniel Geddes, and Mr. Donald Voas. The committee also wishes to thank Mr. Steve McGregor of Thomas De La Rue, Inc., for his painstaking compilation of the data contained in Appendix D.
The Lighthouse, Inc. kindly agreed to make this report available to braille readers by printing the entire text of the report in braille format. The Lighthouse will also provide copies of the report in large print on request. We thank The Lighthouse, Inc., and also Mr. Brian Wallach, who was responsible for arranging the special Lighthouse printing.
The committee is particularly grateful to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's liaison representative, Dr. Sara Church, Office of Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence, for her active participation at all data-gathering meetings and for providing valuable supporting materials and data for the committee's use.
The committee gratefully acknowledges the vital support and contributions of Dr. Sandra Hyland, staff officer at the National Materials Advisory Board, throughout the study; Dr. Robert Schafrik, director of the National Materials Advisory Board, who provided insight and help during the preparation of the report. The committee also thanks Ms. Janice Prisco, who provided much appreciated assistance and administrative support.
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