Cooking with Sight Loss: using microwaves

Microwaves are a really useful appliance, especially if you’re visually impaired, but how do you use one if you can’t see? Let Mark show you two options, one expensive and one low cost.

Summary:

This video features a discussion about using microwaves for individuals with sight loss. Mark demonstrates two different types of microwaves that can be helpful for individuals with visual impairments.

The first microwave showcased is a talking microwave called Lynette by LG. This microwave has controls that allow users to listen to the settings being selected. Mark demonstrates pressing the power button and the microwave announces the power level options such as medium, high, and low. HE also show how to set the timer using the minutes button and the start and stop buttons. The talking microwave is priced around £300.

However, recognising that not everyone may have the budget for a talking microwave, Mark introduces a more affordable alternative. He showcases a manual switch microwave available for £45 at Argos. This microwave has a power switch with low, medium, and high settings that click, providing a tactile indication of the selected power level. The timer can be set by spinning a dial with tactile markers to indicate different time intervals.

Mark emphasises the usefulness of tactile markers, known as bump-ons, which can be added to appliances to aid individuals with visual impairments. He explains that the first button on the manual switch microwave represents zero, while the subsequent buttons correspond to one, two, and five-minute intervals. The user can customise the settings based on their preferences.