In today's episode of #
accessibility shit-fuckery: our new dishwasher.
In terms of form factor, Fisher & Paykel DishDrawers really suit us: you effectively get two half dishwashers, so you can easily run a half load, run one while you're still filling the other, etc. We had them at our old house years ago and they were awesome. They were also the most accessible dishwasher I've encountered by design: they had tactile buttons, and even though some of the buttons cycled between options, there were different beeps when you wrapped around to the start of the options, so if you couldn't see the screen, you could choose what you wanted easily once familiar.
So when our old dishwasher died last week, it was a clear choice: we'd get DishDrawers. There's always a risk that new models will regress accessibility, and unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to test or find out about stuff like this. But this new model also has WiFi connectivity, so I figured that would work as a fallback at least.
It turns out that they're all capacitive touch buttons; i.e. not tactile, no press. Worse, there are no distinct beeps when you wrap around to the first option, etc.
So I resigned myself to using the app, which is surprisingly very accessible. But... no go there either. Because of a safety feature you can't disable, you have to enable remote start using the (inaccessible) buttons on the dishwasher. Remote start gets auto disabled when the door is opened, after the next wash completes or after 72 hours, whichever comes first.
At best, that makes this thing extremely tedious for me to use. I can stick tactile dots above or below the buttons, but even then, it's easy to accidentally touch a button while you're looking for them and you can easily choose the wrong option due to the lack of useful audible feedback. I already have this problem with our air fryer and it frustrates the hell out of me. But I guess it just is what it is, as is so often the case.
The worst part is that they took a reasonably accessible product and made it inaccessible. And for what? Visually pleasing touch buttons that probably don't even function when you have wet hands (because surely people don't have wet hands in a kitchen?). It's Thermomix all over again. And the message these companies send is clear: "we don't care about people with disabilities at all. We don't even give it a thought."
I called Fisher & Paykel to see if there's anything they can do and it's been escalated to their tech team, but I'm not holding my breath, especially because the inability to permanently enable remote start is a deliberate safety choice. I'm just so, so tired of struggling with and fighting these battles every. Single. Day. I barely even have the energy to be angry. The temptation to just give up is immense.
