Toilet paper dispensers in public bathrooms that have sloping tops, so you can’t put your keys, change, etc. on them.
I’ve heard it became a trend in the 1980s to discourage people from using them as a table to snort cocaine, but maybe that’s just a UL.
Oops, screwed up my coding. That quote was from Sampiro, obviously.
Did you ask her how she used the ATM? Because most ATMs don’t have voice prompting – they just beep. And most ATMs you have to see the screen to know which button you’re supposed to push. It doesn’t help whatsoever if you know where the “5” is on the keypad, if you don’t know which of the buttons next to the screen you can’t read has to be pushed to even start and ATM session.
And then – in the US, at least – if you do manage to get through an ATM session, it spits out your money with no way to determine the denomination.
I used to work at a not-for-profit that developed employment for blind people, and asked one of my co-workers how he used the ATM (since I knew he did). Basically, he had to memorize the screen prompts, and hope that the bank didn’t decide to change them (which, they frequently did, as an “improvement” – when adding a Spanish-language option, fr’ex). He took his cash, and then had to rely on someone else telling him what bills were which denomination – and hoping that they told him the truth (which he’d had problems with, relying on waitstaff when dining alone).
Hardly the stuff of easy accomodation. Braille on ATMs is a half-assed concession to the ADA, at best. If they were really interested in accomodation, they’d have voice-prompted machines (which, I’ve seen in Seattle, at least).
Animal food bags. I understand the reasoning why the string has to be sturdy, but for the life of me, I can never get the bags open that way! I always end up with a pair of scissors, or worse, if I get it open just a little bit, I’ll try to tear it, then end up with a gaping hole and animal food all over the floor because the paper will tear before the string will let go.
Fuck it’s annoying!
And an Amen to plastic packaging as well.
How do they find their way to the room in the first place? And aren’t the numbers on the doors easier to feel than tiny Braille characters? And for the ATM, presumably a sited person is with them who can talk them through it.
Wire cutters. Or good scissors. Cut every wire and rubberband you can see. But it’s absolutely ridiculous that you need a knife (for cutting tape), scissors, and wire cutters just to get out a TOY.
And then have to undo 47 metal twist-ties while she’s whining for her toy!
On edit: what Lightray said. I swear this wasn’t post-padding!
Voicemail systems whose personal mailbox menu does not start with “To listen to your messages, press 1”.
I just hired on with a company who uses this jacked-up Avaya system where the first option is to send a message and the second option is to change configuration. Checking your messages is THIRD. What a bunch of dumbasses. Most people who want to send voicemails just call the person. Logging into voicemail to send voicemails should be filed under option 9 for jackelope management types who lovingly craft 7-minute state-of-the-union voicemails to the entire department.
So they get shown to their room, while using a cane, which gives them the ability to get back out by themselves. Later, they think about ordering room service, then think ‘oh hang on, what room number is this?’
As for the ATM, some have a discretely-placed jack socket for headphones, and it’s ridiculous to think that a sighted person is accompanying them at every step.
Edit: was’t Braille specifically designed to be easier than feeling big shapes of numbers and letters?
Pretty much the only Arabic numeral kaylasmom would be able to recognize by feel is “0”. Maybe “1”.
My job is all about overcoming sadistic network design and when you consider how sadistic normal network design can be you know that’s saying something. One portion, for example, involves maintaining ten thousand heavily used PC’s on a network where running any automated process or maintenance tool is not allowed. Think about the madness that one would induce IT professionals.
DVDs with several minutes of previews that start automatically when you put the DVD in the player, which disable the MENU key. Especially if they can’t be fast-forwarded through, either. (And especially especially for TV shows on DVD, where, unless I’m going to watch all the epsidoes on the disc at once, which I very seldom do, I have to sit through the previews before each individual episode I watch.)
There is simply no explanation for this that does not involve the DVD producer being Evil.
That’s ok; as a righty using big 3-ring binders on a regular basis, I’m forced to either only use half of each sheet of paper or kill myself using the whole thing.
Oh yes, plus any disc where after all this, getting the thing playing involves more than one press of a button.
ATMs speak and usually have headphone jacks. If the bank is open, they provide headphones for customers, per ADA. The vast majority of ATMs only give out $20 bills in the US.
The Braille on drive-up ATMs is apparently for blind people who take cabs. Which would presumably be a lot of blind people since obviously they aren’t driving themselves. I know I wouldn’t really look to my cabby to help me enter my pin number. Plus, it’s already there on walk-up ATMs, so it’s not like it took any extra effort to add it to the drive-up ones.
Braille on hotel rooms also makes sense to me. If they can return to their floor, and remember approximately where their room is, the braille on the door will allow them to find their room.
This is why I love watching DVDs on my Mac. The Mac’s DVD Player software remembers where you were the last time you put a particular DVD in the drive, and starts you at that spot. (Of course, this means remembering to go back to the menu before ejecting the disc, so that the next time it doesn’t start you off in the middle of the end credits.)
My example of sadistic design: Any rolled paper product — paper towels, toilet paper, adding machine tape — which uses so much, and such strong glue to secure the end of the paper that you have to get out a knife … and end up cutting through several layers of paper, which results in wasting several feet of the product.
Lingerie comprised of 20 yards of fabric because some boneheaded designer thinks looking for it is more fun than finding it.
You guys would get a kick out of this month’s Wired magazine cover story Why Things Suck - The 33 Things That Make Us Crazy. The list includes blister packs, DVDs and Lobsang’s last week nemesis, the vending machine.
Sometimes the edges are thick enough where you can cut right into the side and pull the front and back apart.
Not trying to cut through both sides at once also lessens the chances of cutting into the instructions or other important documents packaged inside.