I want to find a hot water dispenser that would be easy for someone with very little vision to use. I want the electric kind that you have to fill up occasionally, rather than a thermos (not hot enough for a proper cup of English tea). A plumbed instant hot water dispenser for the sink is an option, but I’d rather have something that can sit on the counter.
The home helper can fill it up once a day and set any settings. The ones I have looked at have multiple controls that are under a membrane and I think would be confusing and hard to use. I’d like one with just a big button for the person to press.
I hate to answer a question you didn’t ask but I have a Hot Shot water heater.
It heats up about two cups of water at a time. If she has some site, she probably could fill it up and then hit the button. A minute or two later, hot water.
The left button heats water, the right dispenses it.
The single-serve coffee machines (like the Keurig) have a fairly large tank and can dispense hot water at the push of a button. Would that work?
Also, most electric kettles have a large button to start them, and an automatic shutoff so they don’t stay cooking all day. The person needing hot water can just go over and check it, and if it’s not hot, push the button to start it.
I don’t know what your budget is, but I use the 5-liter Zojirushi CD-LCC-50 at my tea bar. It has three different temperature settings for different types of tea and a “reboil” button if 205 isn’t hot enough for you. It does have buttons under a membrane, but it would take no time at all to learn them. I think they retail for about $185.00. If I recall correctly, they have a smaller unit, too.
One thing my blind granny liked when she still lived at home was her electric kettle on a sort of A-frame stand, which she could tip up to pour into the cup (on the rim of which she would hang an alarmed sensor which told her when the water reached the right level) but which she never actually had to lift. Have a look at the RNIB shop (Royal National Institute for the Blind). It might give you some ideas of useful stuff for your person, not just for this particular purpose. Or there’s this electric water heater, which dispenses water by pressing a button.
If you always use the same dispenser and your cups are all the same size, you’d be amazed how fast you learn to fill the cup to the right level by sound alone. Add in weight and time (assuming constant flow from the dispenser), and it’s pretty darned easy to fill a cup of hot water without seeing it.
Very true. Even if your vessels aren’t the same size, it’s pretty easy to hear when it’s approaching full. I hardly ever bother switching on the kitchen light. Of course this relies on having functioning ears, though, which she hasn’t had for a while now either.
Once it has water in it, there’s just one switch on the top to push and when the water is hot, it switches itself off. Very handy and heats up water fast.
I would second this one, or the 3L model. Assuming it’s the same as the 3L model my friends have, the buttons are raised, and both in different positions and different sizes. To get water, you place the cup, press the smaller right button to unlock, and the large right button to dispense. Buttons on the left only set temperature and perform a reboil - normally, they aren’t needed. As far as I know it’s not any more modal than that. While the unlock is only indicated by a light, it shuts off automatically, so it’s not a problem to just hit it every time.
For a blind co-worker I once made a cardboard template to fit over a “membrane” panel such as I think you’re describing. Holes were cut in the template to allow button pressing, and a braille label affixed to one side of the holes so she could know which button did which. Worked pretty well, she used it for years.
Of course, if you have to punch in numbers that then display with LED’s that could still be problematic.
Have you asked the blind person in the OP what she feels capable of handling? Blind people are often more capable than the sighted think they are (though, of course, not always) and she may have a personal preference or thoughts on the problem herself.
