Canadian currency tactile feature
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The Canadian currency tactile feature is a feature on the current "Canadian Journey" series of Canadian banknotes. The feature indicates the banknote denomination in the upper right corner of the face side of the bill using a series of raised dots. It was suggested by Bruno Thériault, an administrator for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and designed by Dr. Susan Lederman, a professor of Psychology at Queen's University.[1]
Although similar in appearance to Braille, it differs because standard Braille was deemed too sensitive. The currency denomination must be recognized easily, thus the banknotes use full Braille blocks (or cells) of 6 dots. The $5 bill has one cell, with the $10, $20, and $50 denominations each having one more cell than previous. The $100 bill has two cells arranged such that there is a space of two empty cells between them.
A very similar system of tactile raised dots is now being implemented in a new series of notes for the Costa Rican colón.
