I wouldn't expect someone visually impaired to not review a toy because they can't see the color.

Someone who can't hear should be able to review as well. Simply indicating they can't hear, or asking someone else to do a sound check, or checking other reviews to give a rating if they don't want to disclose their impaired status publicly would all be fine from me... honestly, I'm more annoyed with guys reviewing female-marketed toys and then not disclosing that oh yeah, they were using it anally. I read a review blog once and it wasn't until a few reviews in that at one point the poster indicated he was using vibrators on his cock... wouldn't have bugged me if he'd indicated he was using them on different equipment right off.

But for someone who can't hear? The important part is the vibration and toy quality. Yes, sound is very important... for me, I live with kids around and wouldn't get anything louder than two bees for use. But it's not the most important part of the review. Sometimes I have to read more than one review to get an idea how how something will sound... just like I read more than one review to get an idea of how something will feel.

Honesty is key. That's all.

I'm surprised someone actually voted that it was unacceptable!

I don't see why it should be a problem as long as they explain that they couldn't rate that aspect of the toy. Plus if they have a partner or friend who isn't hearing impaired rate it instead than you can still get an opinion. With how incredibly open and friendly the Eden community is, I'm sure it wouldn't end up being an issue. Besides, when it comes to comparing vibrators, the loudness is one of the last things I care about. I'd rather know how well it works!

I don't think it matters overly. That's such a small part of the review and really isn't the most important thing when rating a toy.

Wow! I was surprised anyone would vote "it's unacceptable." I don't think it should matter that much. While the rating of the bees is important, I don't think a deaf person should be singled out or whatever only because of that tiny thing. It's not so important that they should be disqualified.

I think that it would be fine because it's unlikely that it would be the only review.

I see no problem with it at all. They should just mention somewhere that they were unable to evaluate the noise level.

I think that deaf people should have just as much right to review vibrators as anyone else. They could simply put n/a for the bees part or they could include in their review that they could not answer that question and simply explain how the vibrations felt. Many deaf people can feel vibrations and still enjoy things like music because every sound has a specific vibration. Beethoven wrote many of his songs after he became deaf. He could still distinguish between the notes because of the vibrations.

i bet a deaf person could give a pretty good idea of how loud a toy is with the higher sense of feel

I don't think it's a problem at all.

People often mention aspects of a toy that they can't or didn't review. I.e. I don't have a P-spot so I can't speak to prostate stimulation, or I only used this toy solo so I don't know how it would perform in partner sex.

I don't see not being able to rate the "bees" as any different than comments like these. The only thing is the bees are formatted into the review to be essential. If I was deaf I would just press the N/a button and leave a note about it.

It wouldn't bother me.

If someone has a hearing impairment, they should note that they cannot hear it and either have a friend rate how loud it is, or if the product has a ton of reviews that are consistent on their bee level rating, just say that although they can't hear, others rated it ___ loud. Good question.

All vibrators make some kind of noise and most are within a range that is audible, but not impossible to mask behind closed doors and under the covers. I'm more concerned with the other aspects of the product anyhow and as long as anyone can properly review those points, it will be useful to the community.

No problem at all here.

If I found myself in this position I'd simply rate the bee level at what seemed to be the average and state that I couldn't personally rate that portion of the product.

Unless it was the only review on the product, I don't see it being much of an issue. If it was the only review, then it would be nice if they let someone else rate the bee, but if they felt awkward asking for such a thing that's ok, it shouldn't be a requirement.

i can understand someone's physical shortcomings because i have mild hearing loss myself. as long as they explain why they can't talk about sound, then i'm ok with that.

I don't see it as a problem and if the give a good solid review of all the other aspects well they wrote an extremely useful review in my book.

Isn't that part of what makes eden awesome is that you can get the perspective and experiences of a variety of people. I've worked in health care and believe or not people with disabilities have sex drives as well. People who have disabilities can offer valuable information from their experiences, especially to people who have similar limitations. As long as the person is able to construct a coherent review, they should be able to submit a review.

Isn't that part of what makes eden awesome is that you can get the perspective and experiences of a variety of people. I've worked in health care and believe or not people with disabilities have sex drives as well. People who have disabilities can offer valuable information from their experiences, especially to people who have similar limitations. As long as the person is able to construct a coherent review, they should be able to submit a review.

I think it is absolutely fine. I think it's great, actually--sex, sex toys, and online communities like Eden ought to be accessible to everybody. Reviews from diverse perspectives are a fantastic way to reach more lovers/couples/custome rs/community members.

It would be courteous of a deaf person to indicate in the review that they left out the "bee" score for that reason, but I don't they are obligated to disclose that information about themselves. Anyway, the reviewer could always read the other reviews for that toy and say, "other reviewers have found that this toy is quiet/loud/annoying/et c."

As a customer, if a review didn't have the information I was looking for, I would simply read another one on the product page.

I think it would be incredibly inappropriate to ask a non-hearing person to have a hearing friend score the noise level for them--"oh, you can't address this one aspect of a toy? Then, you should completely disregard your own privacy for our benefit."

I'm also gonna bet that unless the reviewer lived alone, the noise level would be important to them just like it would be to most customers, and thus they would find a way to get the "bee" onto their review.

I don't see any issues with it. A deaf person can still review other aspects without issue, and as long as there's an indication that they couldn't review the noise level, I don't mind at all, I would just look to other reviews to find out about the noise.

I'm fine with it.
Especially if they explained why they couldn't rate that part. I'd totally understand.
I don't see why just because someone's deaf they shouldn't review. I'm sure they can you everything else about the vibrator. I usually don't worry too much about sound anyway.