A money brailler is a tool which is designed to help people who are blind or visually impaired keep track of their money. Money braillers make braille markings on bills, allowing people to find them quickly. Several companies manufacture these products, often in conveniently small forms which attach to a keychain or fit in a wallet. They can be purchased from stores which cater to the blind or people with disabilities, and they can also be found online.
To use a money brailler, someone inserts a bill and then presses down on the key with the desired denomination. The key presses into the bill, creating a set of braille dots which can be used to identify the bill. For the blind, a money brailler can be essential, because it allows someone to select the right bill, and it helps people count and keep track of their bills. For the visually impaired, a money brailler can be extremely useful, allowing them to find bills quickly without having to squint or struggle to read them.
Braille is an alphabet which is expressed in the form of a series of raised bumps within a grid. To read braille, people feel paper which has been printed with braille dots, registering each individual braille grid as a letter or number. While it sounds time-consuming to read braille, people actually get the hang of it very quickly, and they can read and write in braille with amazing speed.
Braille experienced a brief period of unpopularity with the rise of the Internet, as people started using screen readers and other technology-based approaches to visual impairment. However, many people continue to use braille, and in some areas, braille materials must be provided by government funded agencies to people who request them. Many banks and other institutions also provide materials in braille to appeal to visually impaired customers.
A number of braille labelers and tools exist to help people with visual impairments keep track of their belongings and identify things. These tools can also be used by sighted people; care providers, for example, may use a braille labeler to mark objects around the house for the people they care for. A money brailler is one among a large family of products which can be helpful for people with visual impairments.
Sighted people can also make use of a money brailler. By brailling each piece of money as you get it, you can reduce the risk of handing someone two bills at once, because the braille gives the bill some texture, allowing you to finger a single bill when you need it. Because brailled money is a bit unusual, you can also fall back on it in a dispute about the size of the bill you handed to a cashier, as the manager can look for a brailled bill to settle the issue.
