Hi Janina, All I can say is wow, and thank you! Thank you for putting yourself through all that frustration so that the rest of us can benefit from your knowledge. We had a couple of LifeX bulbs in our last house, so I know a bit about those inaccessible apps that you have to configure, and have no interest in revisiting that experience.
Your advice makes a ton of sense. We’re actually replacing some of our Wemo smart plugs with the newer version that supports thread, so waiting and getting lightbulbs that do the same makes sense. Smart lightbulbs are expensive enough that I don’t want to buy anything that I’m just going to want to replace a year or two from now. Thanks also for sharing your experience with the Nest 3. We had the Nest 2 in our last house, and I had experiences similar to yours when for whatever reason it lost power or went offline. When we moved into this house a couple of years ago, we installed two Ecobee thermostats. I’m not in love with them. I think the app is clunky to use, and the unit itself is a touch surface, so is completely inaccessible. So I’m glad to hear that you are happier with the Nest 3. I’ll keep that in mind if I ever get irritated enough to kick the Ecobees to the curb. Cheers, Donna > On Jan 29, 2023, at 7:29 AM, 'Janina Sajka' via MacVisionaries > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Donna, Jeff, All: > > I have been intentionally buying from several different vendors for > reasons of research relating to developing guidance to the wider > industry through World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) publications where I'm > involved on behalf of accessibility concerns. While it's been a often > frustrating process for me, this has yielded some useful > conclusions--but that's all I think I need to say on that aspect of your > question. > > Here's the important point ... > > Once whatever devices you install are installed and configured via your > smart device, (phone, Ipad, etc), your accessibility is going to work. > Getting to that point can be a significant challenge. > > Whether it's the Apple Home interface, or even Google Home running on > your IOS device, you'll know whether the light is on, and you'll be > easily able to toggle them on and off. The phone endpoint of this > technology works well. Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa, Curtana, any one > of these can also be your friend if you prefer to speak. > > The trick is getting things to that point, and that's where the problems > live. You mention the challenge of wiring installations as a concern > over Jeff's strategy. Well the software from the various manufacturers > that you need to use to configure lightbulbs, switches, thermostats, > etc., etc., is all over the map from an accessibility point of view. > > Phillips is a good choice for this reason. But you need to plan for yet > another small device sitting on a shelf somewhere, because your phone > needs to talk to it, and then it talks to Phillips Hue bulbs. > Fortunately this is a pretty accessible path by all reports. I didn't go > there personally. > > There are lightbulbs that will undoubtedly meet your needs, and there > are dizzying combinations and versions each of which seemingly uses a > different app for initial configuration before you get to the point of > handing off control to the home app. If you experience a longish power > option, you may need to use that app again to restore the configuration. > This happened to me a couple months ago when our power was out for > around 7-8 hours. > > > There is good news on the horizon summarized nicely in this article: > > https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2022/01/11/ces-2022-matter-and-thread-win-the-iot-connectivity-wars/ > > My conclusion, wait and look for devices that say they support Thread > and Matter. That's hardly anything on the shelf today, but this should > change pretty soon. Meanwhile, all the old, not at all accessible app > based direct wifi devices will stay on the shelves until someone buys > them, even if they're a decade olde. You really don't want to go there, > unless you have enough vision left to deal with not very accessible > middleware apps. > > You need to identify your needs. You need a certain amount of light? Buy > a bulb and put it in a lamp. This is a small investment to test whether > the 60 watt LED really is less light than the old fashioned 100 watt > incadescent. My guess is that it will work fine--but you need to judge. > > Beyond that, I suspect your goal is to be able to control them. For me, > with no usable vision over such things, it has to do with control in my > entryway for delivery people, and with another lamp for lighting Zoom > calls in the evening. > > Whatever your scenario, you also need to plan for how you manage > reconfiguration in software because sooner or later you'll need to deal > with that. You may not need to physically screw in the bulb all over > again, but you will sooner or later need to reconfigure the connection > to your very accessible Apple (Google or Microsoft) aggregating app,. > > I hope this makes sense! Feel free to write any questions. > > PS: My education started with a thermostat. I had a Nest 2 installed. > Last winter, when it lost network connectivity because of a slightly > longish Internet outage in my building, I was very cold. Rebooting the > thermostat required managing an inaccessible touch screen on the device. > Recharging its battery meant taking it off the wall and finding the > USB-A port inside. Not very blind friendly. > > Long story short, I chucked the Nest 2 and went to a Nest 3. Now, when I > go down, and that happens a couple times a year though not often, I > simply pull it off the wall, test the pair of AAA batteries that power > it, and replace it onto the wall where it's connected to my HVAC system. > Takes maybe a minute or two and the heat is back on. > > Best, > > Janina > > Jeff Berwick writes: >> Phillips Hue are the best and I have several of them. Recently, over >> Christmas, I switched a lot of my smart lighting to in-wall switches. I >> went with the Lutron Diva, which is part of the Caseta line. >> >> If you go with in-wall, you will need to install them. The nice thing about >> the in-wall switch is that you have control over your lighting with >> automation, and the luddite in your family can still use a rocker switch to >> turn lights on and off. ;) >> >> Jeff >> >> >>> On Jan 28, 2023, at 8:54 AM, 'Donna Goodin' via MacVisionaries >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> We are thinking about getting smart light bulbs for our kitchen. Does >>> anyone have a recommendation? Bright is better for me. >>> Thanks, >>> Donna >>> >>> -- >>> The following information is important for all members of the Mac >>> Visionaries list. >>> >>> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if >>> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners >>> or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >>> >>> Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: >>> [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at >>> [email protected] >>> >>> The archives for this list can be searched at: >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/42E6E655-BEAF-407E-919B-45D94886D4A4%40me.com. >> >> -- >> The following information is important for all members of the Mac >> Visionaries list. >> >> If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if >> you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or >> moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. >> >> Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: >> [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at >> [email protected] >> >> The archives for this list can be searched at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/E6852A94-46D1-4E3B-BAF4-42E25C5A8D40%40berwick.name. > > -- > > Janina Sajka (she/her/hers) > Accessibility Consultant https://linkedin.com/in/jsajka > > The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) > Co-Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures http://www.w3.org/wai/apa > > Linux Foundation Fellow > https://www.linuxfoundation.org/board-of-directors-2/ > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: > [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > [email protected] > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/Y9Z0yzX4cKg/20is%40rednote.net. -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. You can reach mark at: [email protected] and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/macvisionaries/C078F6CE-32AB-4068-8C8A-B8A4528ACC44%40me.com.
