Cooking is a necessity for many and it is also a hobby for millions around the world. For those who love cooking, it can very well act as a stress buster too. A number of people think that persons with visual impairment can not easily work in kitchen. But that is not true! Visually impaired people can enjoy cooking if appropriate adaptations have been made in the kitchen. In fact the entire home should be equally accessible for all the family members. In this article we are going to look at a few changes that should be made in kitchen to make it more accessible for visually impaired people.
Besides structural changes, it is prudent to buy a few items for the kitchen keeping the needs of visually impaired people in mind. Disability can be much efficiently managed if you have the right products.
Make Kitchen Accessible for Persons with Visual Impairment
If appropriate changes / tweaks are not made, working in kitchen can be a hazardous task for the visually impaired. Therefore, making required changes in not optional. Kitchen accessibility should be taken seriously.
Use Finger Guard to Protect Fingers from Cut
There is an unsaid rule followed by society ‘restrict people with disabilities to do any work in order to protect them from any harm’. The feeling or the intention behind this gesture is most often a genuine care for the person with disability. But many a times it becomes frustrating for the person who is being cared. There are many persons with visual impairment who love to cook but are restricted from entering the kitchen. Your loved ones should be given protection from danger rather than being restricted from doing the work they wish to do.
A finger guard may prove really beneficial for the safety of a person with low vision while cutting vegetables and fruits.
Use Scoop Measuring Cups and Spoons
Putting in the right amount of ingredients is one of the keys to cooks delicious food. But measuring different types of ingredients could be a difficult task for someone who can not see. Measuring cups and spoons come as a great help in this case. These cups and spoons can be filled with often used quantities like ½ cup, ⅓ cup, 1 cup, one teaspoon, one tablespoon etc.
Storage of Knives
Sharp objects, such as knives, should be properly stored so that the person with visual impairment does not accidentally happen to touch the sharp edges. A wooden knife holder is a good option to store knives. If that is not available, make sure that knives are kept wrapped in cloth or paper towel.
Keep Things in Order and in Same Place
Persons with visual impairment rely a lot on the expected location of various items. If you will keep on changing location of things used in your kitchen, it could be very difficult for a visually impaired person to find them. Make a place for everything and inform the visually impaired person about the location. An organized kitchen goes a long way in making it accessible for the visually impaired.
Use Tactile Labels and Markers
You should use tactile tiles on the floor of your kitchen, especially if it is large. Tactile tiles help a visually impaired person in moving around. You can also get Braille labels printed and put them on various jars and drawers.
Use Jars with Wide Mouth
It is easier to take things out from a jar that has a wider mouth. Items like spices, salt, sugar, flour should be placed inside such jars. Wider mouth also allows entry of the measuring spoon or cup.
Use a Tray for Preparation
A coffee tray would be very useful in the preparation area as it will contain the spills. The tray’s raised edges also help the person to know the boundaries of the preparation area.
A Cutting Board with Contrasting Sides
Get a cutting board that has one side with light color and the other side with darker color. This will help a person with low vision to cut whatever items needed for the meals.
These are only some of the tips for adapting a kitchen for the use by a person with visual impairment. There must be a lot of other tips that our readers can contribute. We look forward to the participation of our readers in sharing information. Thank you for connecting with WeCapable!
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These were great ideas. I also thought th touch drawers/cupboards would be useful so a blind/vision impaired person didn’t have to look for th handles to open. Or else contrast door colour & door handles. Black handles on white drawers etc.
more down lighting over work bench area would help some vision impaired people. Also oven at bench height. It’s much easier to move food in & out of hot oven if it’s on a similar level. Instead of bending over, leaning arms in, then pulling hot food out & standing & turning back/changing angles to th bench. Colours of bench tops are important. & colour of splash back is important. For some a white splash back or bench top is too much glare.