Blind Association Criticizes New R$200 Banknote Size Equal to R$20 Bill

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The R$200 (US$40) banknote, launched on Wednesday, September 2nd, by the Central Bank, was criticized by associations of the visually impaired for having the same size as the R$20 banknote.

Since the launch of the Real’s second series of banknotes, denominations have had different sizes to help the visually impaired to differentiate them. Since it is the same size as the R$20 banknote, the new R$200 bill could lead to confusion despite the accessibility measures adopted by the Central Bank.

The ONCB (National Organization of the Blind of Brazil) intends to call on the National Council for the Rights of the Disabled (CONADE) and federal deputies in the cause for the next round of the R$200 bill to have better accessibility measures.

“This greatly reduces autonomy and violates the Brazilian inclusion law. If there was no equipment to make it bigger than R$100, then they could not have made it the same size as the R$20 bill”, it says.

No machinery

For its part, the Central Bank states that modern security mechanisms led the new bill to be inserted in the R$20 banknote production line, but admits that it would not have the machinery to make the R$200 banknote follow the logic of the others and be larger than the R$100 bill.

“For being a high denomination, we chose a very robust set of security features, one of these features is typical of the machine that produces the R$20 bills. Choosing the size of the R$20 bill also facilitated the banknote to reach to the banking network equipment that dispenses bills more quickly,” it says.

For differentiation, the Central Bank inserted tactile marks different from other banknotes in the R$200 bill, creating an embossed three-line diagonal code on the right-hand corner of the bill. In addition, features such as the number 200 are highlighted on the paper.

For those with partiially diminished eyesight, the Central Bank also says that it has maintained a color palette with contrasting tones, to benefit accessibility.

Source: G1

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