How to set up an iDevices switch as a blind person.

Posted on December 18, 2018

All over the internet you can find people write phrases like: “first world problems”. Here’s one probably most people haven’t heard before: “blind world problems”. E.g. problems sighted people will probably never experience.
Earlier this month, I setup my first iDevices switch, but until I knew what I was   doing, it was quite a challenge. I had bought it some time ago so I didn’t have the box anymore, so I  couldn’t get the number needed to set it up in the iDevices app from there. I looked all around on the device for the number using Seeing AI (except for the side with the plug that goes into the wall, didn’t think it would be there) and and gave up for the day. The next day, I got sighted help and was told it was on the side by the plug, that faces the wall, where I didn’t look. So blind readers, the 8 digit number you need for setting up iDevices is on the side of the switch facing the wall , in the space  closest to where you would plug in the thing you want to  control. .
Once I knew that, setting up the switch was very easy. Both Seeing AI and the iDevices app could see it, and the iDevices app is quite accessible.
There are 2 ways to get the number of your iDevice switch into the app during setup. You could paste or type it in to the edit box, but I just capture it with my iPhone’s camera, which, even as a blind person is very doable. When the app wants the number and displays the camera view:
1. Make sure you have good lighting, Even if you used the flash, which the iDevices app isn’t capable of, the number seems unreadable in low light.
2 place the iDevice switch on a flat surface with the plug that goes into the wall facing up.
3. hold the phone directly   above the switch  so the camera lens is positioned next to the plug that goes into the wall, towards   where you would plug in the thing to control.
4. Slowly raise the phone straight up about 1cm per second. You should hear that the number capture was successful within 5 seconds or so.
Beyond that, the setup was very easy and accessible.
People say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I needed almost that many to try and explain where the number was on the switch. Let me know if it made sense. 
One more thing,   I use the same camera technique mentioned above for capturing the number on the iDevices switch when I setup my Apple watch. It  works very well there also.