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Real #disabled life:

In theory, our Crock-Pot is one of the pseudo-accessible models. It literally has one physical dial with four distinct clicks: Off, Low, High, and Warm.

Except after not using it for over a year, my #blind partner and I both forgot the order of those clicks. We made a decision to set it to the rightmost position based on logic, because Low and High are both hotter than Warm. Then we asked a sighted person to verify, but the labels are in English and they only speak Spanish so somehow they got mixed up.

The end result is that our raw chicken has been sitting on the Warm setting, in 32 degrees C weather, for 2.5 hours. This is a cascading set of bad circumstances, all because a device manufacturer can't put tactile markers on their products. It's also why I like devices with companion apps, not as an alternative to physical controls but as an extra line of defense and piece of mind against human error.

#accessibility #disability

#Accessibility #blind #Disabled #Disability

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in reply to James Scholes

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James Scholes

One reason I like the option of using a companion app with appliances is that I enjoy having, and reasoning about, data.

When I press buttons on, say, the remote control for a fan, I'm going on feelings. How much air is reaching me? Where is it pointing? How about the sound level?

These things work, but can be inefficient. If I know that when it's over 27.5 degrees C in my bedroom, I want speed 6 at horizontal position -5 degrees and vertical position 20, those are numbers I already know work for me. I can set them and forget it. Even better if they can be saved as a preset.

in reply to James Scholes

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James Scholes

The same goes for cooking. Sure, I can set a physical dial to 4 o'clock ish, set a timer on a separate device, and then adjust the dial to 7 o'clock ish after 20 minutes.

Maybe that works fine, but why is it okay for blind people to be forced into such a way of working? If a person would prefer to start out at 185 degrees, then after 19 minutes have it upped to 220 degrees automatically, that should be possible.

Unfortunately, accessibility usually has to override any personal preferences. If you have one choice for getting something done, how you'd prefer to get it done becomes irrelevant. Maybe this even shapes how blind people end up preferring to carry out certain tasks over the course of their lives.

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