Awareness Study on the Accessibility of Home Appliances for People with Disabilities

Accessibility was examined and evaluated for the home appliances made in Korea. Even though the home appliances are essential to everyday life, people with disabilities have limited access to them due to lack of accessibility features in the interfaces and controls. The needs of the disabled people in using various types of home appliances were examined through a survey. A survey on awareness of universal design of home appliances and accessibility-related standards was also conducted with the engineers and product designers of many big-name electronics companies. We found out a serious lack of understanding in accessibility and of awareness in related standards among the engineers and designers. Some suggestions were made for developing programs to increase the awareness of accessibility and to provide electronics companies with appropriate standards in home appliances.