Hi, Robin.
My wife and I used to have ADT as our security provider. This was before
smartphones were all the rage and so I don't think they had any apps or
cloud storage connected to their services at that time. I'm assuming
that ADT now offers these capabilities and I am actually curious as to
how accessible they are.
I'll try to address your questions regarding Xfinity Home by explaining
what is offered. I will apologize in advance if the rest of this message
sounds like an Xfinity infomercial, as this is not my intent.
1. Like most of the security systems you will get a telephone-style
keypad which I am assuming most people will want by their front door. In
addition to the ten digits for entering your security code there are
three buttons below this keypad which, on my keypad, are Stay, Away and
Night. Comcast offers a few different keypads and I have only seen one
of them, which is the one installed at my home. On that particular
keypad the keys are distinctive and the three mode buttons below it, for
Stay/Away/Night, are very tactile. The keys beep when they are pressed.
2. You also get a separate device known as the touchscreen controller,
which provides the ability to fully control your system by changing
codes, adding additional security codes, etc. This device is very
portable and can be plugged in using any wall outlet. This device is
currently not accessible if you solely rely on speech output.
3. iOS and Android users can control the system by using the Xfinity
Home app. The app gives you similar functionality to the touchscreen
controller. For example, you can use the app to arm or disarm your
alarm, activate or deactivate motion sensors, browse through an activity
log of all of the events recorded by your security system and can even
create rules. A rule might be something like "arm my security system
every night at 10:00 Pm or send me a text message whenever my back door
opens or closes. While we continue to always improve accessibility I
would say that the app is nearly 100% accessible. If you have smart
devices which are compatible with Xfinity Home you can use the app to
control those devices, as well. As an example, you could adjust the
temperature of your thermostat or lock your front door remotely. On iOS
you can even use your fingerprint to arm or disarm your system without
the need to enter your security code.
4. There is also a Web-based portal where you can control most of your
security system's settings via your Web browser. I don't believe that
creating and managing rules are offered using the Web interface but most
other features should be available.
If I remember correctly, the basic service comes with the main keypad,
the touchscreen controller, the ability to use the apps and the Web
portal and I think you also get a few sensors included as well, such as
those you might want on a door or window. One motion sensor might also
be included but I would check with the Xfinity Home Web site
<https://www.xfinity.com/learn/home-security/features>or one of their
sales agents to be certain. 24/7 monitoring is also included but I don't
think that a camera is included with the basic package and, if this is
true, it would be an additional cost. Again, if you're ever curious
about this I would check with Xfinity as there could be any number of
promotions or other discounts that I might not be aware of.
If you do purchase a camera you would be able to monitor what it is
detecting via the Web portal, the apps and even with X1 by using your
voice remote and giving it a voice command to display what your camera
is seeing. As you can imagine, this is a totally visual feature and so a
totally blind person would need sighted assistance to verify the nature
of the picture.
For an additional ten dollars per month you can have your camera
recording what it sees and having these recordings sent to the cloud.
You could use the apps or the Web portal to browse the list of
recordings. There is, however, some degree of accessibility here. On the
down side, the recordings are still totally visual and the names of the
files would, therefore, not be able to provide any description of what
had taken place. However, each recording, which I believe lasts for
around 45 seconds, is time stamped. Therefore, if you knew that a
specific incident occured at your house or in your backyard at 12:30 PM
yesterday, you could browse the files and locate the ones which were
timestamped at 12:30 and you could then share them. In iOS, you could
activate the typical share sheet for any of these files, giving you the
options for sharing them via email, your Dropbox or Onedrive account,
text message, etc. The recorded files are stored for a period of ten days.
I hope this information helps.
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist WWW.David-Goldfield.Com
On 6/1/2018 5:15 PM, Robin Frost wrote:
Hi,
This is very interesting to me. I have cameras through my ADT pulse system and while I’m happy to have them I as a blind person can’t do much with them at all. I can have people look at live views remotely but when it comes to archiving video clips from them for the purposes of say documenting the fact that a next-door neighbor takes advantage of one’s blindness by letting their golden retriever run loose doing its business on your property or jumping at you and potentially causing injury to you when you’re simply taking your trash to the curb on your own property sorry I digress (smile). You can do little of that archiving to thumb drive or cloud process on your own without sighted assistance.
I’m curious what the xfinity home experience is like over all in terms of keypads with speech output for alarm systems or archiving of video for instance from its cameras if any light can be shed on that.
Take good care.
Robin
*From:* David Goldfield
*Sent:* Friday, June 1, 2018 10:58 AM
*To:* blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [blind-philly-comp] An Interesting Article About Security Cameras from the Perspective of a Visually Impaired Consumer
Applevis recently published a blog post discussing the accessibility of security cameras from the perspective of a visually impaired user. While the reviewer is not discussing a home security solution such as the one which Comcast offers this piece still makes for interesting reading. Since I started using Xfinity Home a little over a year ago I have a greater appreciation for how and why security systems are of tremendous benefit to visually impaired consumers, including and especially when dealing with cameras. This is why the accessibility of these services is so critical and is why I'm very pleased at how accessible XH has become. https://www.applevis.com/reviews/miscellaneous/blind-persons-guide-home-security-cameras
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info for additional resources and information about assistive technology training services. To unsubscribe from this list, please email blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. To subscribe from another email address, send email to blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word subscribe in the subject line. To contact the list administrator, please email blind-philly-comp-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
