The accessibility issue more people with disabilities should think about
5 min readFeb 24, 2019
Accessible Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
The problem people with disabilities have with currency is as old as currency itself. People with disabilities live in a world where:
- Coins are heavy, easy to drop, and hard to pick up. In the US the largest coin in regular circulation is a quarter, which doesn’t buy much these days.
- Old paper bills frequently contain germs, which can impact people with compromised immune systems
- New paper bills can be difficult to separate for people who lack fine motor skills.
- Many countries have similar sizes and colors in their paper money, making it impossible for a person with significant vision loss to identify the correct bills to make a purchase without some sort of assistance. Even people with partial sight may have trouble distinguishing a $1 bill from a $10, especially if the bill is old or worn.
Unscrupulous people take advantage of people with vision loss courtesy of some of the physical currency deficiencies identified above. A lawsuit is currently pending against Walmart where because the self-checkout kiosks were inaccessible, the blind plaintiffs were forced to use a staffed checkout where it is alleged that the cashier stole…