Blindbargains made me aware of this recent blog post from Amazon,
describing new features to its Fire TV products.
Accessibility Updates for Fire TV and Amazon Video Customers
January 30, 2017
Thousands of Amazon customers are now using VoiceView on Fire tablets
and VoiceView on Fire TV. As we kick off a new year, I’m excited to
highlight new accessibility features for Fire TV, supporting our blind
and low vision customers. These features are being delivered over the
coming months to all existing Fire TV customers as a free, over-the-air
update, starting with the latest generation Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
with Alexa Voice Remote. This update brings many VoiceView features from
our Fire tablets to Amazon Fire TV, as well as several new capabilities:
• VoiceView menu for easy access to settings, including reading speed
(with rates from 0.66x to 4x), speech and sounds volume, punctuation
level, and ability to relaunch the tutorial.
• Settings to enable system-wide high contrast text (experimental) and
closed captions.
• Navigation of all content on the Fire TV screen by holding the Menu
button to enter "Review Mode." This also allows customers to navigate by
word and character so it’s easier to find out how actors’ names are spelled.
• Context-sensitive help available by pressing the remote’s Menu button,
and automatic reading of program information, such as the rating and
duration, by pressing the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons.
A growing number of 3rd party apps are compatible with this VoiceView
update, including Netflix and Hulu. And developers can take advantage of
new features by providing “Orientation Text,” “Usage Hints,” and
“Described By” additions through the FireOS accessibility API.
Additionally, the Amazon Video app now includes screen reading
capability on many third-party devices. Blind and low vision customers
can enjoy screen reading capabilities when using Amazon Video on devices
such as the Microsoft Xbox One and One S, Sony PS4 game consoles,
certain Roku streaming devices, as well as many smart TVs and BluRay
players, including certain TVs and BluRay players from Hisense, LG,
Samsung, and Sony.
We will continue to bring accessibility updates to our devices this year
and we welcome thoughts and suggestions at device-accessibility@xxxxxxxxxx.
Peter Korn is an Accessibility Architect at Amazon, serving the device
and content businesses.
--
David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
services.
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