3 ways Alexa makes a difference in this veteran’s home

One of the most important ways Alexa helps Anne around her home is by making it more accessible.

In the 22 years since her injury, Anne has seen assistive technology grow and change. She said it was difficult to train that early technology to understand her voice.

“All it could do was turn on the TV and turn on a couple lights,” Anne said. “With Alexa, I went from barely anything to having access to everything.”

Anne sees Alexa’s biggest impact in the kitchen, where she can look up her favorite recipes and add groceries to the family’s shopping list from her Echo Show.

"[For] my husband, it takes something off his plate. It makes me actually feel like I’m doing something for him, something I used to do before I got hurt,” she said.

Alexa also helps Anne control the thermostat, turn lights on and off throughout her home, and even run the vacuum to keep their home clean.

“With Alexa, whatever different device you want to add, it works,” she said.

Alexa’s capacity to read books out loud is what originally drew Anne to the device.

“I can’t pick up a book anymore, and I was an avid reader before, so Audible became a bit of a freedom,” she said.

Prior to Alexa, Anne relied on the library for books on tape, which didn’t provide her with a wide range of titles. With Alexa and Audible, Anne can listen to her favorite books, as well as music on demand, all throughout the house.

Anne also uses a Fire TV cube, which allows her to control the TV with her voice.

“I can turn on the TV and change the channels. Just to have the independence to do what I want, watch what I want, without having to ask, ‘Can you change the channel? Can you turn it up?’ makes every bit of difference.”

Beyond the walls of her home, Anne uses Alexa to stay connected with her family. She can use the Drop In feature to check in on her daughter, Rebecca, and her grandchildren, and during 2020, Anne used Alexa to keep in touch with her mother, who was isolated two hours away.

“Using Alexa for communication, it’s a huge gamechanger because I can’t be there, but I know she’s OK,” Anne said.

Alexa’s communication features are also helpful within her home. Anne said she recently got her wheelchair stuck in the mud in her backyard, and she was able to use the Alexa app on her phone to drop in on her husband in the garage to ask for help.

“I can stay at home by myself now,” she added. “My husband doesn’t have to panic about me, I can get in and out the doors, I can see who is at the door.”

When Anne thinks about the future of accessible technology, she gets excited.

“I’m along for the ride,” she said. “I’m waiting to see what’s next.”