[Electronics-Talk] Does where we shop impact accessibility of appliances?

[David Andrews]

There is one other variable, which I don't think 
anyone has mentioned yet.  It can be good, or bad, or both.

We are seeing more and more devices that are 
controllable by smart phone apps, either iOS or 
Android.  The problems are, you have to have a 
device that will run the right software, and that 
software must, itself, be accessible. Given both 
of these things, it offers another approach to accessibility.

Back in the early to mid 90's, at one of the 
U.S./Canada joint conferences on technology, I 
wrote and presented a paper calling on industry 
to develop standards for operating a device, and 
development of a universal remote 
controller.  With phones, and various home 
automation standards, we have pieces of this, and 
hopefully we can take it further, and make it work for us.
\
Dave

At 12:59 PM 10/30/2016, you wrote:
>Here are my thoughts. 1.  Appliance 
>manufacturers don’t have any idea what we 
>want. 2.  Even if they did, they couldn’t care 
>less and whine it’s to expensive to make 
>something we can use. 3.  Only way to turn this 
>around is to sue every damn one of them in a 
>class action because otherwise, they just will 
>never ever change. All the talk in the world 
>about publicity efforts will do no good at all 
>because views against the blind in society in 
>general are getting worse, not better.  Fact is, 
>we’re starting to move backwards and we may 
>have more and more of a problem the longer we 
>wait. Sent from my Mac, The Only computer with 
>full accessibility for the blind built-in 
>Sincerely, The Constantly Barefooted Ray, Still 
>a very happy Comcast XFinity Voice Guidance, 
>Mac, Verizon Wireless iPhone7+ and Apple TV 
>user! > On Oct 30, 2016, at 8:51 AM, Brad Hodges 
>via Electronics-Talk 
><electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote: > > 
>Colleagues: > > > As some of you long-time 
>Federationists may recall, a number of years > 
>ago I had the privilege of working at our 
>National Center. One of the > areas of research 
>and advocacy I undertook was to begin the 
>exploration > of the state of appliance 
>accessibility. I also was pleased to have had > 
>several articles published in the Braille 
>Monitor. Entitled "Crisis For > The Blind at the 
>Big Box Store" they summarized our understanding 
>of the > issues and technology of the 
>time. > > > Fast forward more than a decade and 
>I find myself prowling the isles of > big box 
>stores and other appliance departments once 
>again. This time as > a member who has an 
>abiding interest in this topic. I intend to > 
>collaborate with the Technology Team at the 
>Jernigan Institute, to once > again publish a 
>comprehensive survey of the appliance 
>accessibility > landscape. > > > To make a very 
>long story short, most of what we observed in 
>the early > 2000's still applies. So, what has 
>changed? Why are things considerably > more 
>difficult now than they were in 2004? Is it time 
>to establish > standards for accessibility? Is 
>government intervention necessary? Have > our 
>expectations for accessibility changed? > > > In 
>posing these questions I'm hoping to expand our 
>scope of exploration > and to consider 
>additional forces and factors which contribute 
>to the > bedeviling time we all have in finding 
>a microwave oven or washing > machine which we 
>can use. > > > Yes, I'm getting to the topic you 
>expected after reading the message > header. 
>Yesterday I was shopping at my local JCPenney 
>store. Low and > behold, what did I find on the 
>second floor but a very well merchandised > 
>display of major appliances from LG, Samsung and 
>GE. Of particular > interest was how unfamiliar 
>many of the models were. I have been > tracking 
>availability at Lowes, Home Depot and Sears for 
>many years. It > struck me, as I explored a GE 
>front loading laundry pare, which look > quite 
>usable that something which a mgr at Home Depot 
>shared. The floor > space for appliance display 
>in the big box store is rented by each > 
>manufacturer. Thus the choice of which models 
>are available for public > preview is controlled 
>exclusively by those manufacturers. > > > Do you 
>suppose that one of the issues which contributes 
>to the state of > affairs is a re tale 
>experience which only includes a sampling of 
>less > accessible or manageable products? Since 
>I believe it to be the case > that relatively 
>few models in any manufacturers lines is really 
>usable, > the chances of those models not 
>showing up in the display space is > perhaps 
>quite high. > > > In addition to the GE laundry 
>machines, I found an LG electric range > with 
>beautiful burner turn knobs on the front, and a 
>back panel which > would appear to lend itself 
>very nicely to tactile markings. Several > 
>over-the-range microwaves looked promising, 
>again to be used with > tactile indicators. A 
>Samsung dishwasher with 5 easy to feel buttons > 
>also intrigued. > > > I'll return to JCPenney, 
>this time with a camera, an extension cord, 
>and > my husband to lend a hand and a pare of 
>eyes. > > > Hope I haven't run to long here, but 
>there was a qualitative aspect of > the overall 
>experience which I found encouraging. I also 
>trust that as > we progress in collecting our 
>findings and thoughts for a new Monitor > 
>article that the collective experience of this 
>group will help inform > the conversation. > > > 
>Brad Hodges > > Huntington WV > > > >