Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I have been an AccessWorld reader for a number of years now. I noticed your announcement in the September 2015 issue about upcoming articles on home appliance accessibility. In part, you said, "We will cover features such as tactilely discernable controls, audible tones, font size and style of control labeling, color contrast, glare, and the positioning of controls."
There is one more huge and possibly game-changing aspect of home appliance accessibility I hope you address, namely, smart appliances that might be controlled through an iPhone. While it is certainly preferable to have accessible controls on appliances themselves, they seem to be harder and harder to find, especially here in Canada. Very few seem to be even close to accessible, what with the growing proliferation of touch screen controls and embedded menus.
I am aware that some manufacturers are now starting to make "smart" appliances with companion smart apps. Hopefully, this might bring some modicum of access our way, so long as apps are accessible either on the Android or iPhone platforms; hopefully both. Specifically, I see that LG, GE, Samsung, and Whirlpool all have some smart appliances. Obviously, my hope would be that apps would allow for complete control of an appliance, not just for monitoring progress or controlling time delay operation, etc.
This new smart technology holds great promise, but it is impossible to assess the level of access without seeing a machine in operation and having the app in hand on an iPhone running VoiceOver for example. Could you please try and include this kind of information in your articles?
Lastly, could you also include company contact information specifically concerning accessible products if any are found? This would be helpful, because model numbers change when companies export their products to different countries. For example, model X in the US might be model Y in Canada, or not available at all. It would be most helpful to have a manufacturer contact for accessibility so that I might have a starting point in trying to track down similar products in my market. Sadly, Customer Service departments have typically been less than helpful and basically not interested in understanding the problems or finding solutions here.
I am very much looking forward to updated information on home appliance accessibility—washers, dryers, stoves, induction cooktops, wall ovens, etc.
Thanks, and I look forward to reading.
Jean Menzies
