New Accessibility Features On Roku For Visually Impaired

Posted By : Anirudh Bhardwaj | 29-Mar-2017

New Accessibility Features On Roku For Visually Impaired

Roku is dedicated towards providing an extraordinary video streaming experience to its customers. Being one of the most powerful streaming media players available in the market, Roku is known for its world class streaming services and high-end product lineup. It goes without saying that Roku offers a number of outstanding features at cost-effective price. Although, there are several other Video Streaming Service Providers like Amazon, Xiaomi and Samsung that provide similar streaming services at comparatively lower prices. But Roku clearly stands off the charts when it comes to processing power, optical stability and quality control. This and many other attributes of Roku place it among the elite class lineup of streaming media players, the other competitors being Apple TV and Google Chromecast.

 

Despite of its well established niche and a sound user base, Roku Inc. has never been reluctant when it’s about taking risks. Last month, the streaming giant added three new features to the latest Roku OS (i.e 7.5) exclusively for visually and hearing impaired people. These new features will help these people to enjoy the Roku Streaming experience to the best of their abilities. The company says that it is their firm endeavor to serve every class of the society by virtue of their avant-garde Live Streaming Services. Let’s now have a look at these new accessibility features and see how they work!


 

Audio Guide

Built exclusively for visually impaired people, the Audio Guide is a text-to-speech accessibility feature which verbally dictates the written text anywhere on the Roku UI. This feature if goes mainstream, will greatly help the blind persons navigate through the menu and switch to different channels. You can activate the Audio Guide by going into Settings. Just launch the Settings app, go to Accessibility and you’ll see Audio Guide at the top, select and turn it on. Once you’ve activated the Audio Guide, it will read out all the written text mentioned on the menu, settings as well as on the different channels. Within the Accessibility Settings, you can also adjust the pace and volume of the speech.

 

However, this new accessibility feature is only supported in select Roku streaming devices including Roku Ultra, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+, Roku Express, Roku Express+, Roku TV and Roku Streaming Stick.

 

You may also like Beta Testings Begin For The New Roku App Powered By Comcast.

 

Voice Search

This is yet another feature exclusively added for visually impaired people. As the name suggests, the Voice Search feature on Roku enables you to find the content that you’re looking for via simple voice commands. The Roku Voice Search is very much comparable with the virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google Now. It’s just it doesn’t speak. It only takes voice commands and performs the intended task.  

 

To use this feature, you must have the Roku mobile app installed on your android or iOS smartphone. However, the feature is also available on physical remote of select Roku devices including Roku Ultra, Roku 3 and Roku 4.


 

Closed Captioning

This is yet another enticing feature which helps the hearing impaired understand the movie or TV show by showing closed captioning for the dialogues, background noises and sound effects as well. This feature is not only meant for the hearing impaired but anyone who’s having difficulty in understanding the language can use this feature to enjoy the impeccable streaming experience without missing out on anything.

About Author

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Anirudh Bhardwaj

Anirudh is a Content Strategist and Marketing Specialist who possess strong analytical skills and problem solving capabilities to tackle complex project tasks. Having considerable experience in the technology industry, he produces and proofreads insightful content on next-gen technologies like AI, blockchain, ERP, big data, IoT, and immersive AR/VR technologies. In addition to formulating content strategies for successful project execution, he has got ample experience in handling WordPress/PHP-based projects (delivering from scratch with UI/UX design, content, SEO, and quality assurance). Anirudh is proficient at using popular website tools like GTmetrix, Pagespeed Insights, ahrefs, GA3/GA4, Google Search Console, ChatGPT, Jira, Trello, Postman (API testing), and many more. Talking about the professional experience, he has worked on a range of projects including Wethio Blockchain, BlocEdu, NowCast, IT Savanna, Canine Concepts UK, and more.

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