Many smart thermostats have a touchscreen so may not be very accessible without app, of course these days there is Aira and Be My Eyes and my oven, for example, which is quite accessible via the app has a few functions which for some reason can only be set on the oven, but I have successfully done this with an Aira agent telling me where to touch. Another option is to have the installer also wire up a plane old thermostat with the little lever, this way if for some reason there is no access to the smart thermostat, you can still use it. Otherwise keep it turned all the way down and the smart thermostat will handle things. I had this setup on my furnace for a long time, when I bought my house in 1996 there were two of these simple thermostats, one upstairs and one downstairs. Of course back then nobody had even heard about a smart thermostat or smart anything, but when I got my first smart thermostat, I put it downstairs and the odd time when the internet was down or it wouldn’t work, I then simply used the old analogue thermostat upstairs.
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mary Otten Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2025 2:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Thermostat question We got one a couple of years ago. The thermostat itself is totally not accessible, unless you get the really expensive one. But the one we got does link up through various things such as an app for the iPhone. That app is usable. There are unlabeled buttons on it and some other things that you wouldn’t know our activatable, but it is accessible Enough to be usable. If your Wi-Fi was out, you got nothing. Site is the only thing that works at the interface on the wall where the thermostat is. There’s also an Alexa skill, I don’t know what that does, but it would also be totally Wi-Fi dependent. I don’t know of any thermostat that for a blind person these days would not require Wi-Fi. Mary Sent from my iPhone On Nov 27, 2025, at 12:51 PM, 'Karen Poulakos' via VIPhone <[email protected]> wrote: My son is wanting to replace our thermostat. Has anyone had any experience with the accessibility of the Ecobee thermostat? Thanks. Karen P -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone 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 V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list 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 "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/000001dc5fdf%248ec9ae40%24ac5d0ac0%24%40poulakos.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/000001dc5fdf%248ec9ae40%24ac5d0ac0%24%40poulakos.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone 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 V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list 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 "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/4D7E22A5-DB8D-4186-B642-9C299F9DD02F%40gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/4D7E22A5-DB8D-4186-B642-9C299F9DD02F%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone 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 V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list 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 "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BY5PR02MB6929F58CD40E01CD6FFA581FC7DFA%40BY5PR02MB6929.namprd02.prod.outlook.com.
