Kitchen Appliance Accessibility for Families with Children Who Are Blind
Do you wonder how your child can help with chores around the house? How can they warm up a snack or make popcorn in the microwave? How can your child wash a load of clothes?
Here are some tips to help you and your child make household appliances easier to use.
Ask manufacturers about braille and other kinds of labels. Whirlpool and GE both offer many templates and kits to mark their appliances. Other manufacturers may also provide these materials upon request.
Ask others about their experiences. If it is true that word of mouth is the best advertising, surely it is true for accessibility. Nothing is better than hearing about appliances first-hand from others who use them the same way your child will. Several websites allow you to download and listen to or read reviews of many products. These websites include www.acbradio.org and AccessWorld®.
The Kinds of Controls Your Child Will Encounter
Accessible Controls
Accessible controls have historically been provided on appliances, including conventional turn knobs, such as those found on stove burners and dryers. Mechanical push buttons that latch or change position when engaged also fall into this category.
In almost all instances, your child can feel accessible controls to determine their status. On a stove, reaching to feel the burner control at the 9 o’clock position would let your child know that the burner is set to simmer. Feeling the pointer of the dryer control periodically as the cycle progresses would allow him to predict how much longer the cycle will take.
Of the three control classes, these are the only ones that allow a person who is blind both to position the appliance settings and to confirm those settings independently while the appliance is operating.
Inaccessible Controls
These provide no means of direct tactile identification or direct observation of the status of the appliance. They are typified by the flat touch panel found on most microwave ovens and many other appliances such as wall ovens and dishwashers.
Inaccessible controls will require some adaptation to be usable by your child. In some instances, even modification, such as the use of braille or other tactile markings, cannot make the control usable.
Ambiguous Controls
Ambiguous controls fall in between the accessible and inaccessible classes. The ambiguous control provides at least some feedback to your child. Examples include oven controls that set a default temperature of 350 degrees when turned on. Pressing textured regions on the smooth control panel activates the controls. Pressing the Up and Down controls increases or decreases the temperature by 5 degrees for each press of the control.
In addition to changing the temperature, a distinct beep is heard as each control is pressed. By counting beeps, your child can set the temperature accurately. Direct verification of the temperature is not provided because direct observation of the display is not possible with the electronic oven control. This ambiguity creates a situation in which it is possible to set the oven nonvisually, but full independent access to the information on the display is not provided.
To receive up-to-date accessibility information on current technology, including kitchen appliances, subscribe to AFB’s AccessWorld Magazine. You will learn about appliances such as the Instant Pot Smart Bluetooth-Enabled Multifunctional Pressure Cooker. Many in the blind community find this product to be quite useful, whether used on its own or in combination with an app for a smartphone or tablet.