Dubai: The Central Bank said it will put into circulation currency notes with tactile features for the blind and visually impaired to recognise on Wednesday.
The features will be felt on notes of Dh500 and Dh5 denomination, which will keep the overall design and other specifications the same as the currency notes currently in circulation.
The notes will be reprinted with tactile features on the front of the notes, engraved in bleed-off intaglio printing on the edge of the banknotes’ short sides.
For the Dh500 note, the marking consists of a pair of three horizontal lines, separated by a recognisable distance, around the middle of the right and left short sides of the note.
As for the Dh5 note, the feature consists of one horizontal line in the middle of the right and left short sides of the note.
The two currency notes will be dispensed to banks in accordance with the Central Bank’s established procedures for cash withdrawal and deposits.
“It is noteworthy that this preliminary step represents one of the Central Bank’s attempts to enable sight-impaired individuals’ access to all banking services, just like other customers,” the statement added.
The development means the UAE has now joined a select group of countries that have issued currency notes recognisable by the blind and partially-sighted.
Canadian banknotes, for instance, have raised dots that can be felt in a particular order. Meanwhile, in India, the Mahatma Gandhi series of notes carry different raised shapes for different denominations, such as a square for a Rs50 note and a circle for a Rs500 note.
The European Central Bank has also introduced tactile marks near the edges of the €200 and €500 banknotes.
