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

[David Andrews]

Well, I think it is a "viable solution" that is 
something that can work for some people. It 
however, should not be the only solution, nor an 
excuse for not doing anything else -- just one of several options.

Dave

At 02:08 PM 10/30/2016, you wrote:
>No, controlling appliances via a smart phone is 
>not a viable solution because most blind 
>consumers do not own them.  Smart phones are too 
>expensive for the majority of blind consumers 
>who live on fixed incomes, and they have their 
>own accessibility issues such as difficult to 
>navigate touch screens.  It is unreasonable to 
>expect a blind consumer to purchase an expensive 
>smart phone, download the appropriate apps (a 
>procedure which itself may or may not be 
>accessible)  and learn how to operate it just to 
>turn on and adjust his microwave or stove or 
>dishwasher.  Besides, many blind consumers may 
>have other physical limitations that make using 
>a smart phone difficult to 
>impossible.  Accessibility must be built into 
>the appliances themselves. Gerald -----Original 
>Message----- From: David Andrews via 
>Electronics-Talk Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2016 
>2:15 PM To: Discussion of accessible home 
>electronics and appliances Cc: David Andrews 
>Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Does where we 
>shop impact accessibility of appliances? 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 donâ€â„„¢t have any idea >what we 
>want. 2.  Even if they did, they couldn̢۪t 
>care less and whine >it’s to e¢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, >we̢۪re starting to move 
>backwards and wd 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