A. INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE 
 
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 1. Launch IDEAL Currency Identifier 
 
 2. Read the start-up banner 
 
 3. Select, “Do Not Show This Banner Again” or “Show Banner At Start-up.” 
 
 4. GIVE THE APPLICATION DATABASE 30-45 SECONDS TO LOAD. 
 
 5. Place your Android device on top of, in the middle of; and in parallel with the note you wish to identify. 
 
 6. Slowly raise your device directly upwards until it speaks the denomination and face of the note. 
 
 7. If the above process does not work the first time, please try again. It takes a little practice. 
 
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 B. IMPORTANT NOTES 
 
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 1. Most Important: IDEAL Currency Identifier was not designed to, nor can it, identify counterfeit notes; 
 
 2. Notes being identified should be placed on a hard, flat, surface in good lighting. 
 
 3. A text-to-speech voice needs to be installed on your device in order for this application to work. 
 
 4. Notes that are wrinkled, worn, scanned in poor lighting, torn, or disfigured may not be identified or misidentified. 
 
 5. Use this app at your risk; 
 
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 C. NEW FEATURES IN THIS VERSION 
 
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 1. Identifies note more quickly; and, 
 
 2. Recognizes the redesigned $100 note. 
 
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 D. IDEAL CURRENCY IDENTIFIER CONTINUES TO 
 
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 1. Identify the following notes: 
 
 a. 1 notes (1963 - present); 
 
 b. $2 notes (1976 - present); 
 
 c. $5 notes (1993 - present); and, 
 
 d. $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes (1990 - present). 
 
 2. Work without an Internet connection; 
 
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 E. IMAGES OF ALL IDENTIFIABLE NOTES 
 
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 http://apps4android.org/ideal-currency-id/ ||||| Description 
 
 EyeNote is a mobile device application to denominate Federal Reserve Notes (U.S. paper currency) as an aid for the blind or visually impaired to increase accessibility. Users can have the denomination of a note scanned and communicated back to the user. 
 
 
 
 EyeNote features continuous scanning. The scanning shall commence once the application has loaded and will denominate the currency. 
 
 
 
 EyeNote version 3.0 works on the iPhone 5, 5S and greater, the 4th Generation iPod touch and greater, and iPad 2 and greater. 
 
 
 
 This application does not authenticate a note as either real or counterfeit. Please refer to the license agreement on the iTunes App Store. ||||| RBA to introduce tactile banknotes after 13yo blind boy Connor McLeod campaigns for change 
 
 Updated 
 
 A 13-year-old blind boy's year-long campaign to ask the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to print tactile banknotes has finally paid off. 
 
 Connor McLeod's idea was sparked when he was given money for Christmas, but could not tell the amount he had. 
 
 "I received some notes at Christmas time and I kept having to ask Mum what they had given me," said Connor, who has been blind since birth due to a congenital disorder. 
 
 "I didn't touch notes because it was really annoying and embarrassing that I couldn't differentiate between them, but I could differentiate coins so I used to go around with only coins in my wallet getting stuff from the canteen with them. 
 
 "And then it just sort of hit me that my life isn't going to be all coins, so I thought I'd better make things a little easier, and easier for others as well." 
 
 The young New South Wales teenager - who has represented his school at state level athletics, rides a push bike, abseils, rock climbs, swims, and plays the drums and keyboard - started a petition to allow vision-impaired people to be able to tell the difference between denominations. 
 
 The Human Rights Commission and Vision Australia supported his campaign, and 57,000 people signed the petition. 
 
 The campaign culminated with a meeting last November with the RBA, where Connor lobbied the main decision makers for change. 
 
 "Words cannot explain how proud of my young man I am," his mother Ally Lancaster said. 
 
 "He spoke intelligently and passionately and factually and Michele Bullock from the RBA, during our meeting, actually said that she was suitably impressed at how well that he had done and she certainly didn't expect that from a young man of his age." 
 
 Now the RBA has announced it will add a tactile feature to all bank notes. 
 
 In a statement, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the new tactile features of banknotes will help vision impaired people tell the difference between denominations of Australian bank notes, along with the bright colours, large and bold numbers, and different sizes for bank notes. 
 
 Vision Australia advocacy general manager Maryanne Diamond said Connor was not alone in his frustration with bank notes and he has achieved a great deal for the community. 
 
 "What we found in Vision Australia in a recent survey is that 50 per cent of people who are totally blind are telling us that they feel that at times they have been short-changed, or given the wrong change when they've purchased something, simply because they can't quickly and easily and effectively distinguish notes," Ms Diamond said. 
 
 "So I think Connor should be really proud of himself because I think that's kind of made a big difference in the Reserve Bank talking with us, working with us and trying to find a solution for the next generation of notes." 
 
 Topics: health, disabilities, human-interest, australia, nsw 
 
 First posted ||||| America 
 
 Blind Boy's Quest Prompts Australia To Plan Tactile Cash 
 
 i itoggle caption Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 It started with frustration at Christmas, says Connor McLeod, 13. Blind since birth, he couldn't tell how much money he'd been given. So he started a petition — and now the Reserve Bank of Australia says it will create bank notes with tactile features to help visually impaired people tell the difference between denominations. 
 
 McLeod explains to Australia's ABC network what prompted him to act: 
 
 "I didn't touch notes because it was really annoying and embarrassing that I couldn't differentiate between them, but I could differentiate coins so I used to go around with only coins in my wallet getting stuff from the canteen with them. "And then it just sort of hit me that my life isn't going to be all coins, so I thought I'd better make things a little easier, and easier for others as well." 
 
 The teenager has been pushing for features such as raised markings that can help blind people quickly determine the difference between bills. He says existing features, such as different sizes for different denominations, aren't enough. 
 
 More than 57,000 people signed an online petition that McLeod and his mother, Ally Lancaster, started last year. Discussing her son, Lancaster wrote that he is "always fighting for the little things that will give him the same chance as everyone else." 
 
 Being able to tell the difference between bank notes would help her son and more than 300,000 other visually impaired Australians be independent and avoid being defined by their disability, Lancaster wrote. 
 
 She also mentioned that Note Printing Australia, an enterprise owned by Australia's reserve bank, includes tactile features on money it prints for other countries, such as Chile, Mexico and Thailand. 
 
 Last November, McLeod, who lives in New South Wales, made the case for tactile features at a meeting with the Reserve Bank of Australia. 
 
 The federal agency recently announced that "the next generation of Australian bank notes will include a 'tactile' feature to assist people with a vision impairment." It did not provide details about the feature. 
 
 Australia's money currently includes features such as bright colors and large numbers to help those with vision problems determine what bills they're seeing. 
 
 In the U.S., the Treasury Department has been reviewing changes that would help blind and visually impaired Americans tell the difference between U.S. bank notes — all of which have the same weight, shape and size. Back in 2011, the agency said that raised tactile features were one possible solution. 
 
 But the Treasury also recommended a currency reader device — which it unveiled last month as the iBill Talking Banknote Identifier. The agency also says that two free mobile apps (EyeNote on the Apple iOS platform and the IDEAL Currency Reader on the Android-based platform) had been downloaded more than 20,000 times. 
 
 The Treasury's review follows a successful lawsuit by the American Council of the Blind, which has long argued for redesigning U.S. notes. But it may be a while before any dramatic changes are rolled out. 
 
 "The process for redesigning Federal Reserve notes is complex and time intensive," the federal agency said last month. "Notes with any new features are not expected to be in circulation before 2020." ||||| By: Rosie Rios 
 
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 The Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is now accepting and processing applications nationwide from blind or visually impaired individuals who wish to receive a currency reader to denominate U.S. currency. Under the U.S. Currency Reader Program, U.S. citizens or persons legally residing in the U.S. and its territories who are blind or visually impaired can obtain a currency reader device at no cost. The currency reader, known as the iBill® Talking Banknote Identifier, is compact in size, easy to use, and provides a response within just a few seconds. A user simply inserts a Federal Reserve note into the device, presses a button on the side, and the reader identifies the denomination. The device operates on a standard AAA battery and can read U.S. currency in circulation today. The reader can be set to indicate the note’s denomination by voice, a pattern of tones or series of vibrations. 
 
 To apply for a reader, an individual must fill out an application, which is available on the BEP’s website at http://www.bep.gov/uscurrencyreaderform.html . The application must be signed by a competent authority such as a doctor, therapist or rehabilitation specialist, and then mailed to the BEP at the address listed on the form. If an applicant has verification of a visual impairment issued by another Federal, State or local agency, a copy of that documentation can be submitted in lieu of certification. 
 
 The national rollout of the U.S. Currency Reader Program was preceded by a pilot program conducted in partnership with the Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), where NLS patrons were able to pre-order an iBill® Talking Banknote Identifier. Under the pilot, which ran from September to December 2014, more than 16,000 readers were requested by NLS patrons. 
 
 The U.S. Currency Reader Program follows the BEP’s successful development and launch of two free mobile applications that operate through a mobile device’s camera to scan and denominate U.S. currency: EyeNote®, which operates on the Apple iOS platform can be downloaded for free from the Apple iTunes Store, and the IDEAL Currency Reader, which operates on the Android-based platform, is available on Google Play. To date these applications have been downloaded more than 20,000 times. They provide an alternative for those who wish to use their cell phone rather than carry another device. 
 
 The U.S. government will continue to research a raised tactile feature for use on the next redesigned Federal Reserve note and will continue to add large, high-contrast numerals and different colors to each redesigned note denomination that it is permitted by law to alter. The process for redesigning Federal Reserve notes is complex and time intensive. Notes with any new features are not expected to be in circulation before 2020. 
 
 More information about the meaningful access program can be found at the BEP’s website at http://www.bep.gov/uscurrency/meaningfulaccess.html . For questions about the U.S. Currency Reader Program or assistance with the application process, individuals can call 844-815-9388 toll free or email meaningful.access@bep.gov .
– Australia is redesigning its cash and adding a tactile feature so blind people can tell the bills apart. And as the nation's ABC News reports, the pending change is largely thanks to a 13-year-old kid named Connor McLeod. He launched a campaign and online petition that gained steam and culminated with him making a personal pitch to the Reserve Bank of Australia. Connor, who has been blind since birth, says the idea came to him when he got cash for Christmas. "I kept having to ask Mum what they had given me," he recalls. He says he generally uses coins when he needs money, "and then it just sort of hit me that my life isn't going to be all coins, so I thought I'd better make things a little easier, and easier for others as well." No word on when the new notes will be introduced, but don't expect anything like that for American cash anytime soon, reports NPR. While the Treasury Department has floated the idea in years past, it unveiled an alternative last month in the form of a currency reader. People who are visually impaired can carry around the device, insert the bills, and hear the denomination identified. Various apps, like so and so, can do the same.