Has anyone experienced or used an Alexa (or similar) for an elderly visually impaired parent?

[BeachysFlipFlops]

My ddad is 88 and registered blind. He's very active, member of lots of clubs, listens to lots of books etc.

He's recently had a router fitted, not really for him, but because BT knocked about £200 off his annual bill. Also means we can use gadgets etc at his house as his 4G coverage is poor.

He's constantly asking me to look things up when I'm there, historical facts, types of plants, when the tide is in or out etc....

Now he's got the internet, would he be able to use it? In other words, how hard is it to 'manage'?

I haven't got an Alexa or similar but it could open up a whole new world for him....

Bump

Not an expert by any means but we have Alexa set up to give us the headlines, we can ask her to do sums and ask her anything really and she gives info/ definitions etc. My son loves asking her the weather before he leaves for school.

I like adding things to my shopping list by asking her and asking what's in my diary for a certain day.

Do you know if you have to have a device like an iPad or iPhone to use one?

I believe you just connect it to your wifi. MIL has one and loves to just ask it questions. Amazon has this sample range of questions on their site www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201619490&tag=mumsnetforum-21

I think you need the app to do the initial set up, it could be that you set it up for him using your device though as you don't need this app again after its set up.

That sounds positive.... I don't mind setting it up but I wanted to make sure I didn't have to buy him an iPad or similar as well....

If he needed a device to have apps installed on, then you could buy him a cheap smartphone (I have a cheap Wiley Fox one DH got on ebay) and leave it plugged in permanently, even if he doesn't want to try screen reader technology on it. But it means he would have his own Amazon etc accounts running with it all connected - and any other smart tech like having a Hive device to control the heating

You don't need additional devices, amazon and google both do devices (Apple do as well but require an iPhone etc).

They both work off a trigger phase (ok google, etc) and they should be able to answer questions that you can quickly put in google (like the tide and stuff). Alexa is more developed but google are investing heavily and I don't doubt will soon overtake

I think this is a great idea. You can link it to audible to and Alexa could read audible books to your Dad if he would like that.

We have the echo dot. The speaker quality is not great (we knew that when we bought it though and are waiting for sonos to release their software update which will link the two as we already have sonos speakers) - the echo itself is a speaker too and so better quality sound.

I have the app on my smart phone but tbh don't need to use it, the only thing I do use it for is my shopping list but actually I don't need to as Alexa will read it back to you if you ask.

I think it would be perfect for your Dad - my MIL (79yrs) has one and she loves it.

So I think I'll give it a go. I'm tempted to get a cheap tablet to leave in the house and set him up an email address (which he doesn't have ) so we can all sort it out when we visit.

I've just realised my Fire TV box has Alexa so we've been testing her on things tonight! She failed on the time of high tide (ddad lives near the sea) but was good on historical facts. We were trying to see if she could play old radio shows like the Goons etc, we got one episode but I need to work a bit harder on that.....

I just don't want it to hassle him IYKWIM.

When you do a shopping list, can it just replay it or could I log into the app and find out what I need to buy for him (or is that too much to ask?) I have visions of him making Alexa replay it down the phone to me every week!

Also managing his diary would be fantastic.... is that easy?

Diary - you just link Alexa to a google calendar, works very well
Shopping list - if you can log into the app, the list will be on there so you don't have to have it read down the phone to you each week

You can also set alarms with a message so for example 'Alexa remind me to take my medication at 10am' so when the alarm goes it's not just a random sound but actually a voice telling you what you need to do at that time, might be useful. It can't do a daily reminder at the moment but I reckon they will sort that soon.

Thank you all....

Iplayer has loads of old radio on 4extra which Alexa will play but at the moment you have to cast it from phone app which is obviously not that great for your dad, I'm hoping the Alexa app will improve. Or it'll play 4extra live through voice command.

DH runs clinical trials and they are using Alexa as a reminder. It seems to work OK with this age group.

That's exciting 7to25. I wasn't impressed by a gadget-loving mate's Alexa but I can see that for someone VI it could be very handy.

I was surprised but shouldn't have been. My own Dad loves my Alexa.