Writing in the [Tennessee] Chattanoogan, columnist Roy Exum says the court ruling on accessible currency for people with impaired vision is evidence of the “stupid stuff we do at the frivolous expense of the vast majority.”

Several years ago our local school system ran up a huge bill in construction and legal fees trying to provide for just one kid. Had I been the judge, I would have ruled that child had better learn to overcome the obstacles early because this ole world we live in ain’t got time for such foolishness and has even less time for those who expect it. I don’t mean to be cruel, but, get this straight, you get to New York City once you are grown and you’d better know how to move around on your own.

What’s education — teaching a kid to sue, to bleed the system, or to “cowboy up” and learn to cope. Are we better to accent a problem, or to teach our afflicted how to overcome it?

… Changing the size of our money? Encrypting bills with Braille? Oh, please, the only thing we need to change is some attitudes and obviously the place we must start is on the U.S. Court of Appeals.

From the Cedar Rapids [Iowa] Gazette:

While some advocates for blind people hailed the federal appeals court ruling on accessible currency this week, others sided with the government. Both the National Federation of the Blind and the Iowa Department for the Blind said no changes are needed in the nation’s currency to make it more accessible to people with impaired vision.

One of the basic things the department teaches is money management, said Curtis Chong, director of field operations and access technology for the Iowa Department for the blind. It is not difficult to fold the money, Chong, who is blind, said. Moreover, he said, there are more important battles to be fought, such as helping blind people find employment and increasing funding to programs.

“Our frustration has always been that we want the government to focus on the important things to help make people’s lives better,” he said. “If they have the money, they would have no trouble spending it.”

From CNN, the Washington Post and elsewhere:

A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a 2006 district court ruling that could force the U.S. to redesign its money so blind people can distinguish between values.

Judge Judith Rogers, in a ruling on a suit by the American Council of the Blind, wrote that the Treasury Department’s failure to design and issue paper currency that is readily distinguishable to the visually impaired violates the Rehabilitation Act’s guarantee of “meaningful access.”

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Michael Graves, the designer and architect who created the iconic Alessi teakettle, returns to Minneapolis to review the design of a new nonprofit rehabilitation center. Graves, who now uses a wheelchair as a result of a 2003 infection, has become an expert in the ways that design can help — or hinder — people with disabilities.

In articles and speaking engagements, Graves has consistently intoned against tables and sinks too low for wheelchair arms to slide under; shelves too deep to access stuff at the back; drawers, light switches and window-blind cords out of reach. He told the New York Times, “These are simple things. I’m not even talking about how ugly [the room] is.”

… He’s also looking for a developer and site in which he could design a residential community for both able-bodied and disabled people. “I have a son with learning disabilities, and his mother is worried about what will happen to him when she’s gone,” he explained. “If they could live in such a community, after she’d passed on, he could continue to live there with his friends.”