A refreshing feeling for the blind community since the circulation of the new polymer banknotes but their society is calling for more accessibility in other areas.

The blind community has been feeling out the new banknotes and taking time to memorise which features are associated with which denomination and has breathed a sense of relief since coming in contact with the new banknotes.

“It’s a good move, gone are the days when you have to ask someone to identify the different currencies,” said an excited Jason Ricketts, a member of the blind community, while speaking with the Jamaica Observer.

The community had previously relied on picture-capturing applications on their mobile devices to be informed on what type of note they are holding, but raised bumps in various shapes at the top right hand corner of the new notes have given them some level of independence.

“What we use to do is use our level of innovation to fold the money in different shapes and sizes and put them in different pockets to determine which money I have where,” revealed Allister McClean, who is visually impaired. He says now he can confidently put all his notes in his wallet.

From the inception of the new banknotes, the Jamaica Society for the Blind has been central to the process.

“We have to really give kudos to the BOJ [Bank of Jamaica] because they didn’t just do it alone. They included us every step of the way in terms of getting that done,” said Daemion McLean, chairman of Jamaica Society for the Blind.

“The colours, the size of the numbers on it and the designs, because it’s not just blind people, it’s also visually impaired making sure that it’s visible enough,” he explained.

Since the design was finalised, the society moved quickly to educate its members, hosting several forums to educate those interested in distinguishing the features of the various new notes, and where people were unable to attend these events, the message was passed along to the community.

“We have various WhatsApp groups, so if somebody got the notes first [that person] would tell the [other] people on that platform that look, the $1,000 has a circle, the $2,000 has a triangle, the $5,000 has a square and the $500 has an X. It is for individuals who got that information to now pass it on to people who are not in the group,” said Ricketts while feeling the new notes in his hands.

The Jamaica Society for the Blind is now organising a session at the School for the Blind to get the students educated on the new notes also. As new as these notes are, already concerns have been raised among the community that the distinguishing features might get dull and won’t be able to be identified as they get worn, but the visually impaired are hoping that even within the next 5-10 years, the features will still be prominent to feel.

The notes being easily attached is another concern for the blind, they are urging their fellow members to be careful when handling the notes.

“Some of my friends identify that these currencies are a lot thinner and they are lighter, so you have to be careful you don’t give an individual two instead of one, and you have to feel the features properly, and if you’re in a hurry, you have to be careful you aren’t giving away the wrong note,” said Ricketts.

This is a step forward for the blind community, but there are other areas that need to be addressed within the banking and financial sector which members raised with the Business Report.

“It [the new banknotes] is heralded as an example in terms of how government can go about setting up other programmes or integrating accessibility in other aspects of government for persons with disabilities, it has been a good example,” said McLean.

They are calling on the commercial banks to also tackle the issue of accessibility within automated banking machines (ABMs) and online banking portals. Since the ABMs were upgraded, the visually impaired community say they noticed that features that were used to help them conduct business have been removed.

“A blind person will tell you that the most important thing to them is their independence and that is what the older version of the [ABM] machines would be guaranteed because you can feel and study the keys,” Ricketts shared.

While he understands the move towards technology, he says it bothers blind people that they have to rely on others for assistance to do basic transactions. The upgrades of the ABMs are going towards touchscreens with no audio features to assist.

“Most times when they are making changes they don’t really consult the blind and visually impaired community, it’s done at the end, and when you get push back from the blind society the system is already set up,” shared Alister.

His suggestion to the banking sector is to have a communication component every step of the way which could help to make ABMs more accessible to the blind community. “Maybe what could be done is for text-to-speech to be a part of those ABMs, just like how we use our smartphones — that section of our independence has been eroded since most of the banks have been upgrading their ABMs,” he said. He further suggested, “at least one of the machines should remain tactile so when a blind person or someone with low vision comes in, they can be properly served.”

Mobile banking apps are another headache for the community. Alister shared that the apps — which include government websites — are not designed to be compatible with screen-reading applications.

“Some of the buttons are not labelled, some of the graphics are not labelled, some of the apps can be upgraded as well,” he said. Alister explained that without the labels, the screen cannot be read properly to determine what’s on the website.

Although these remain an issue, they were all elated that at least one step towards inclusion was made with the design of the new polymer banknotes.

“It’s one of the few things the Government has gotten right as it relates to people with disabilities in a long while. We are grateful and it works because we have been integral to the design [of the new banknotes] prior to it coming out,” said McLean.