Why I’m Campaigning for Accessible Home Appliances

Living independently is something adults, at least in my culture, are expected to do. I live in a very individualistic society, where we are told that we must leave home, get our own place, and survive. For disabled children, huge focus is placed upon learning skills for independence. You are told that you must learn to look after yourself, and to not need other people. The truth is of course that we all need other people, and so this philosophy cracks under minimal inspection. But there is another flaw. How are disabled people supposed to live independently, when many of us can’t even access our own homes?

When I was looking to move house, the process was overly complex not because of the difficult housing market, but because I am blind. Beyond the standard considerations like budget and location, I was left questioning whether I’d be able to operate the essentials. Could I use the cooker? Would the washing machine be accessible? How about adjusting the heating? These are considerations that many take for granted, but for me, they are critical to my ability to live independently, something I do want to do, despite my reservations with the concept as a whole.

As the world becomes more technologically advanced, disabled people find themselves increasingly alienated from basic home appliances, essential for everyday living. There are so many appliances on the market now that I would love to use. But I can’t because the way they’ve been designed makes it impossible due to touchscreen controls, endlessly scrolling menus, and smart apps that aren’t compatible with the assistive technology on our phones. It’s not that blind and other disabled people can’t use touchscreens. Most of us can, when they come with accessibility features that we can enable. But whereas these features are commonplace on smartphones at this stage, they’re almost non-existent on household appliances.

This is why I launched My Accessible Home. It’s a campaign that feels incredibly personal to me, and I’m sure that other disabled people can relate. We want to be able to access these crucial products that we ultimately need to use if we’re going to survive. But beyond basic survival, we want to enjoy life and feel comfortable in our own homes. Whether that’s using a new coffee maker or turning thirty and resigning ourselves to buying an air fryer.

The first stage of the campaign is to gather feedback about the barriers experienced by disabled people. I’ve created a survey where people can share their experiences. I ask about all stages of the journey, from choosing a product, to shopping, to using it. This is so I can understand where the barriers lie, what they are, and identify solutions.

After the survey closes, I’ll be compiling the results into a report which I will be sharing on this site, but also with media organisations, product manufacturers, disability rights groups, and across social media. I have a number of objectives for the campaign which you can read about on the My Accessible Home main page.

It concerns me that at present, manufacturers are required to ensure their physical shops and digital websites are accessible, but they are not required to do anything that would enable us to use the products they sell. Some manufacturers have realised that this is an oversight and are beginning to do the work regardless, but it’s time to apply pressure, to educate, and to make people realise that we’re not going away.