Jakarta - Accessibility, or the ease with which someone can use certain facilities, has become a major public concern recently. Especially among people with disabilities and those involved in the disability community, accessibility is crucial, given that we, as humans and citizens, have equal rights. Related to the comfort and convenience that form the core of the word accessibility, a discussion that warrants follow-up was opened at the end of 2011: money accessibility.
In some of my experiences with friends who are visually impaired (formerly called 'tunanetra'), the government's slogan about the authenticity and convenience of money has not yet reached the true level of accessibility. In government advertisements, the word “tactile” is promoted for the ease of visually impaired people, but in reality, the raised letters on rupiah banknotes are not easy to identify by touch alone.
My visually impaired friends often ask me the denomination of the money they are holding. When I asked, “Can't you tell the denomination? You can feel it, right?” My friend, slightly annoyed and joking, replied, “Nope. The government is lying. Haha.”
After the above dialogue, I started feeling banknotes more often to prove for myself whether “tactile” features truly help visually impaired people identify the denomination of the banknotes they possess. And it turns out, “tactile” features are indeed not enough to help us recognize the denomination of the banknotes we are holding. Well, even with these “tactile” features, we can at least tell that the money we are holding is not counterfeit.
Bank Indonesia, as the institution that designs and prints currency for Indonesia, should also pay attention to the needs of visually impaired people. Looking at currency in several other countries, accessible money is consistent and proportional.
Consistent
Consistent means that the size of currency for the same denomination must be identical. Considering that Indonesia quite frequently changes the design and size of its currency, a question crossed my mind. What was the main reason for the government to change the design and size of Indonesian currency some time ago? Additionally, a new denomination appeared in the form of a Rp 2,000.00 banknote and a Rp 1,000.00 coin.
If the government's reason for so frequently changing currency designs is for public convenience, then where is the convenience for visually impaired people? In fact, what I observed is that the size of the latest banknote designs differs from previous designs, even for the same denomination. Therefore, it seems necessary to review the changes in currency design and size in Indonesia.
Proportional
Proportional here means that the larger the denomination of the money, the larger its size. This proportionality greatly helps visually impaired people to know which money has a larger denomination. If we observe, the disproportionality of Indonesian currency is evident in the Rp 1,000.00 coin, which was recently circulated by the government. The Rp 1,000.00 coin, which should be larger than the Rp 500.00 coin, is actually smaller and has a number design that is difficult to recognize by touch. Looking at currency designs and sizes abroad, for money to be easily recognized by touch, one denomination should have a size difference of at least 6 mm from another.
Based on the above, if the government only changes the design of the money, I don't think it's a problem. But if they change the size of the money, this needs to be re-evaluated. Because not all members of society can easily adapt to these size changes. For example, visually impaired people have to memorize and re-learn the new currency sizes to avoid being confused or deceived in transactions.
Currently, my friends involved in visually impaired communities are advocating for the Redenomination Bill regarding money accessibility. This Redenomination Bill is currently in the harmonization stage at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Reportedly, it will be submitted to the DPR (House of Representatives) for review this year, 2012.(Nir)