The US federal court asked the government of the United States to remake the size or texture of American banknotes. This is because blind people find it hard to tell the denomination of the notes.

According to the United States federal appeals court, it is unacceptable that the US banknotes have the same size and texture. At the ruling upheld by the court, judges voted 2 to 1 for revamping all dollar banknotes. They rejected the claim of the US government, according to which changing the size and textures of the US banknotes is a very expensive procedure.

Serious concerns were raised by the US Treasury Department regarding the potential costs of remaking the vending machines.

"A large majority of other currency systems have accommodated the visually impaired, and the secretary does not explain why US currency should be any different," wrote Judge Judith Rogers in the opinion of the court.

It is worth mentioning that the case was brought to the court by the American Council for the Blind. The council offered a number of solutions to the problem. It stated that the Treasury could print a different note size for every denomination, imprint dots or apply raised printing. According to the Treasury Department it is currently reviewing the ruling.

The legal documents presented in the court provide information according to which there are currently 937,000 blind people in the United States. In addition the document states that about 2.4 million people have low vision, which means that they do not have the possibility to read newspaper print.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, institution that prints the banknotes, has commissioned a report that analyzes the possibility of a better serve for blind people.

In order to make it more difficult to fake banknotes, several changes were made, including a new one dollar bill, which was introduced in 2003, a new $10 bill, launched in 2006 and earlier this year a new $5 bill was launched into circulation.