Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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plugging electrical plugs into sockets? (self.Blind)
submitted by ericdevice
hello everyone i have a burning question about your experiences with plugging in your devices to the wall socket. how you go about it, what kind of experience is it for you ect.
fastfinge 5 points 6y ago
Not difficult. Line the plug up, push it in. Same thing you'd do if you were plugging something into a plug hidden behind your desk, or in some other location where you couldn't clearly see the plug. I have gotten zapped before, but it was because I was insisting on using an adapter that I knew was broken; I just didn't quite realize how broken it really was. These days, if a wire is frayed, I don't use it. Well, unless it's an IPhone wire; those things are really expensive, and don't have much power on them anyway.
ericdevice [OP] 1 points 6y ago
thank you for your response, my reason for posing this question is i have developed a product which acts as a tactile aid for plugging plugs into sockets which cannot be seen. because of either furniture darkness or vision impairment. perhaps difficulty associated with this activity is more prevalent in people with acquired vision impairment or sighted people who just cannot get a line of sight to the socket
if i may ask what is your technique for lining the plug up with the socket holes?
thanks again for the response
if i may ask what is your technique for lining the plug up with the socket holes?
thanks again for the response
-shacklebolt- 2 points 6y ago
> people with acquired vision impairment
I only became blind about eight years ago in my teens. I have never had any trouble finding outlets or plugging things in. With any type of power outlet I've seen (not just American) there is clear tactile indication as to the right way to plug it in once you know where the outlet is and how that type of outlet works. It's a non-issue.
I only became blind about eight years ago in my teens. I have never had any trouble finding outlets or plugging things in. With any type of power outlet I've seen (not just American) there is clear tactile indication as to the right way to plug it in once you know where the outlet is and how that type of outlet works. It's a non-issue.
ericdevice [OP] 1 points 6y ago
do you use two hands as well? to locate the socket indents around the slots
-shacklebolt- 1 points 6y ago
Depends? If it's an outlet I'm familiar with I'll more or less just jab it in, haha.
fastfinge 1 points 6y ago
What about USB plugs? They only go in one way, and the first way I try is always the wrong way. Sometimes, the USB plug itself has raised writing, or an arrow, and that arrow goes on the top. Sometimes, though, the writing is on the bottom. And sometimes, the USB socket is reversed, so the plug has to go in the other way. How do sighted people handle USB plugs, I wonder? There must be a better way than "try it both ways" every time.
-shacklebolt- 3 points 6y ago
With usb plugs, I also sometimes have to go twice and occasionally three times lol. But so does my sighted partner. As you said the indicators are inconsistent, to sighted people too.
Changoleo 2 points 6y ago
Sighted person here. It seems like I plug in my flash drives in correctly @ 50% of the time. I usually don't have any problems with cables. All of the USB cables that I use are well marked. Flash drives are a pain though. I hope that wee transition to reversible plugs like the 6pin soon.
jage9 2 points 6y ago
Well at some point, we'll probably migrate to USBC which will fix these things. Those are reversable.
fastfinge 1 points 6y ago
> what is your technique
Uh, this is going to be a hard one; I don't really think about it when I plug things in. First off, I'm in Canada, so I'm using North American style plugs. I've never been to a country that uses any other standard. Maybe other types of plugs are harder; I wouldn't know.
OK, so I'm holding the plug in my right hand, with the two prongs at the top, just as though I'm about to push it in to the socket. I place the thumb of my left hand above the two holes on the top of the socket, so that when the prongs of the plug in my right hand are touching the bottom of my left thumb, it's lined up to go in. Then I remove my left thumb, and push the plug into the socket with my right hand.
That makes it sound way more complicated than it is! I do it with so little thought that I actually had to unplug something and plug it back in before writing this, just to even be aware of how I do it.
Uh, this is going to be a hard one; I don't really think about it when I plug things in. First off, I'm in Canada, so I'm using North American style plugs. I've never been to a country that uses any other standard. Maybe other types of plugs are harder; I wouldn't know.
OK, so I'm holding the plug in my right hand, with the two prongs at the top, just as though I'm about to push it in to the socket. I place the thumb of my left hand above the two holes on the top of the socket, so that when the prongs of the plug in my right hand are touching the bottom of my left thumb, it's lined up to go in. Then I remove my left thumb, and push the plug into the socket with my right hand.
That makes it sound way more complicated than it is! I do it with so little thought that I actually had to unplug something and plug it back in before writing this, just to even be aware of how I do it.
ericdevice [OP] 1 points 6y ago
haha that is does make something simple seem more complicated! but that is a very effective technique. basically my invention would do what your left hand thumb is doing, communicating the location of the slots to the plug prongs in your right hand, allowing you too get it in the holes.
i hope to provide convenience and assistance to the general population as well as the vision impaired community, might i ask you your opinion of this wall cover?
i hope to provide convenience and assistance to the general population as well as the vision impaired community, might i ask you your opinion of this wall cover?
fastfinge 1 points 6y ago
Well, personally, I'm afraid I wouldn't buy it. My thumb works, and is free. Sorry if that sounds harsh!
charliemyheart 1 points 6y ago
I too was not born blind, but became blind at 18 and I too have no problem with plugs use my finger line it up, and push it in.
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