ryner1988
Well-known member
Hi guys,
Some of you might remember my post of a few months ago in which I lamented the state of modern appliances as far as accessibility for the disabled is concerned. Most notably, I touched upon the extreme prevalence of flat panel displays and how there's no way to make them usable for the blind due to multi-function menus and things. Well, a situation happened to me this weekend and it illustrates what I'm talking about perfectly.
I've been wanting an air fryer for ages, and I finally purchased one. I knew going in that it was a clean-touch model, but I figured a sighted person could help me put braille labels on the panel and all would be well. Unfortunately, it became apparent that it would be next to impossible to do this because there's no actual print on the panel to label. I thought it would be like a microwave where yes it's a touch screen but you can interact with the panel without inadvertently activating the appliance. With the air fryer, the only way to read what the panel says is to turn the machine on, so labeling it then becomes impossible because every touch activates a function. With the unit off, the panel is just a blank plastic sheet. My wife and I tried to lable a few buttons, and we kept changing things on the menus, turning the machine on and off, etc. My guess is that even the labels that tell you what each function does are also computerized, not actually printed on the appliance itself. It was very frustrating and the machine will be returned.
So, I'm going to have to find a more bottom-of-the-line model with dials or physical push-buttons, or shell out the cash for a model that I can just control with a smart-phone app and hope against hope that the smart phone app is accessible with my screen reader.
Modern appliances make me want to tear my hair out with frustration sometimes. I understand why mechanical timers and dials don't work in all cases, but how hard is it really to make electronic appliances with actual push-buttons instead of these god-awful touch screens where one tiny accidental bump can set the appliance to do a function you didn't ask it to do? It's so exasperating I can't even find the words really. I know that sounds dramatic, but it does feel that serious sometimes.
Here is the air fryer I bought. If anyone has recommendations for a replacement, I'm open.
Ryne
Some of you might remember my post of a few months ago in which I lamented the state of modern appliances as far as accessibility for the disabled is concerned. Most notably, I touched upon the extreme prevalence of flat panel displays and how there's no way to make them usable for the blind due to multi-function menus and things. Well, a situation happened to me this weekend and it illustrates what I'm talking about perfectly.
I've been wanting an air fryer for ages, and I finally purchased one. I knew going in that it was a clean-touch model, but I figured a sighted person could help me put braille labels on the panel and all would be well. Unfortunately, it became apparent that it would be next to impossible to do this because there's no actual print on the panel to label. I thought it would be like a microwave where yes it's a touch screen but you can interact with the panel without inadvertently activating the appliance. With the air fryer, the only way to read what the panel says is to turn the machine on, so labeling it then becomes impossible because every touch activates a function. With the unit off, the panel is just a blank plastic sheet. My wife and I tried to lable a few buttons, and we kept changing things on the menus, turning the machine on and off, etc. My guess is that even the labels that tell you what each function does are also computerized, not actually printed on the appliance itself. It was very frustrating and the machine will be returned.
So, I'm going to have to find a more bottom-of-the-line model with dials or physical push-buttons, or shell out the cash for a model that I can just control with a smart-phone app and hope against hope that the smart phone app is accessible with my screen reader.
Modern appliances make me want to tear my hair out with frustration sometimes. I understand why mechanical timers and dials don't work in all cases, but how hard is it really to make electronic appliances with actual push-buttons instead of these god-awful touch screens where one tiny accidental bump can set the appliance to do a function you didn't ask it to do? It's so exasperating I can't even find the words really. I know that sounds dramatic, but it does feel that serious sometimes.
Here is the air fryer I bought. If anyone has recommendations for a replacement, I'm open.
Ryne
