Hi Steve;
How about microwaves?


Sent from my Verizon iPhone 5s!

> On Mar 14, 2014, at 10:56 AM, Steve <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> The most accessible brand is Whirrlpool; they worked with the Electrical 
> Engineering Department several years ago at Michigan State to build 
> accessibility into their appliances.  For example, our front load washer has 
> a knob that selects between twelve cycles; it is detented and beeps at the 
> Normal position.  They have a Braille manual available so you can learn or 
> write a cheat-sheet to show the position and settings of the knob for the 
> other cycles.  The other buttons give auditory feedback, e.g. the Spin 
> control has five different pitched beeps that correspond to highest, medium, 
> and low spin speeds; same with Water Temperature.  On our Whirlpool stove, 
> the Bake Broil and Clean buttons all beep, and the temperature comes on at 
> the same point each time; and the temperature up/down buttons beep each time 
> they are pressed.
> 
> But, some blind people don't know how to determine if something could be 
> accessible.  It is just like troubleshooting a rig, you have to know 
> sometimes if you disconnect the appliance's power, do things consistently 
> reset to a certain position.
> 
> Some manufacturers think they have done a great job at accessibility when 
> they really didn't.  My hot tub has Braille controls--L for light, J for jet 
> 1 and Jet 2, U for Up Down for Down and P for Programming.   They knew a 
> blind Opera singer, apparently.  Even with these controls though, there is 
> no feedback when you press a button and no way to tell when you have gotten 
> to the correct section you want to access when you program the tub in terms 
> of cycle length, number of times the filters run, time of day to run 
> filtration, etc.
> 
> But, I know what you mean about inaccessibility.  I looked at an LG washer 
> before we bought our Whirlpool; it had a knob with a light chopper mechanism 
> similar to the modern ham rig tuning control for the cycle selector; there 
> was no way to tell when you switched from one position to the other.
> 
> Sometimes, as we face these issues currently, we can't select appliances so 
> much by features or efficiency, we need to first consider accessibility. 
> So, I wholeheartedly support this initiative.  Even though I can't get info 
> off the display of the washer (which would be nice to know time remaining, 
> etc.), the steps they took to make the unit accessible had to cost all of a 
> dollar and just took forethought in planning out the layout.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Alan R. Downing" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2014 5:11 PM
> Subject: Re: OT regarding making home appliances accessible
> 
> 
>> 2 years or so ago, I was shopping for a new washing machine.  I looked =
>> at the usual places such as Home Depot, Lowes, Fry's Electronics, and =
>> the Maytag store.  I remember going into the Maytag store and asking to =
>> be shown all of the washing machines, that I could operate without =
>> sighted help.  The salesperson called the store manager over, and he =
>> walked over and quietly explained that they didn't have any machines =
>> with click-type knobs, or any thing else that he felt that I could =
>> successfully use on my own.  After examining all of the display models I =
>> concluded that he was absolutely right, there wasn't a single washing =
>> machine in the place that I could independently operate.
>> What a world, Hi.
>> 
>> Alan/KD7GC
>>