[Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing Television

Mon Apr 14 12:38:43 UTC 2014

Good morning listers,

I was under the impression that networks were supposed to provide audio
described programming by a certain date and that the various cable companies
were supposed to provide accessible set top boxes and access to the on
screen menus.

I recently switched to AT&T UVerse for my Internet and tv,and I've had some
success in using the dvr feature to record a masterpiece Theater program,
but the downside to that is finding the show to play it on the dvr.
I'm using the UVerse iPhone app to do this.
The guide is pretty accessible, and it is helpful to use the flick right
command with VoiceOver to see what's on.

HTH

Liz

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kerri
Kosten
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 4:28 AM
To: gwunder at earthlink.net; Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing Television

Hi Everyone:

Thanks for all the messages.
I have to agree with Gary. I believe television has changed a lot since even
I was younger and I'm not that old.
How can I keep up with the latest on the accessibility options and such from
Comcast? I would love to have an accessible set-top box.
I do believe I have an older TV. Should I just have someone look and see if
there is a second audio play option? Is that what the descriptive would be
under?
If I were to go with a service such as Hulu or Netflix, is there any way to
have description with that?
The reason I am asking so much about description is this.
I believe the shows on channels such as MTV are pretty self-descriptive
because they are reality shows, but it seems like newer shows are about
teams trying to investigate cases (Castle, the Following, Scandal, Criminal
Minds, CSI, and Grays Anademy) or they are about vampires/zombies/action
(Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Vampire Diaries, Being Human) and so
really need description to follow so I would love to figure out this
description thing if I could.
The problem I have with Blind Mice Mart is for TV shows by the time they get
the show on their site the season is over. For example, I just saw they just
now got seasons 1 and 2 of Scandal so I might download it and watch it with
description but if I am watching season
3 on TV I won't have that description and who knows when Blind Mice will get
it. Blind Mice is wonderful for movies, but I notice with television shows
they get the shows late.
If there is description for some popular shows such as Scandal, CSI,
Criminal Minds, or maybe Game of Thrones, I really want to be able to access
it.
Again, thanks so much for all the responses!
Kerri

On 4/13/14, Gary Wunder <gwunder at earthlink.net> wrote:
> I like all of the Internet services that provide television, but I 
> also hope that we get some access to the mainstream television 
> services.  I have purchased a fantastic package from Charter cable, 
> but many of the services are difficult if not impossible to use.  I 
> have this fantastic set top box that will let me start recording a 
> show, go off and have supper, rewind the show to where I left off, let 
> me watch it, and keep on recording it.  I think it will even let me 
> record on one channel and watch on another.  All of that is great, but 
> it requires being able to deal with the on-screen menus in order to 
> press the right buttons.  Of course we have promises that charter 
> cable will soon have its materials in braille and will have a set top 
> box the talks, but it is hard to know when that will happen.
>
> I agree with the comments about wanting an easier way to get to the 
> descriptive video that is available.  Television has changed a lot 
> since I was a child.  The Westerns my father used to love watching had 
> a lot of dialogue in them.  The gunfights sometimes provided a minute 
> or two of suspense, but mostly you didn't need descriptive video to 
> tell you who lived and who died.  The guys who died never seemed to 
> draw the speaking parts after that.
>
> There are television shows I can't follow without some visual 
> description and movies in which not one word is spoken until about 10 
> minutes have gone by.  Scenes seem to change more quickly, and current 
> movies seem to focus much more on dramatic visualizations than they do 
> a great dialogue.  I'm really excited about the software being 
> developed that will let us take the audio from a television show, send 
> it through our smart phones, and have them search for corresponding 
> audio descriptions to go along with the video being shown.
>
> When it comes to accessibility, there's a great deal we are lacking 
> and have to fight for, but we have lots of things now that we only 
> dreamed of having when I was a child and some things we never would've 
> conceived of.  A telephone that plays games, radio stations, and lets 
> me listen to albums before I purchase them: who would've thought it 
> could happen, but it has.
> My iPhone may not be the easiest telephone I've ever used, but it is 
> certainly the best radio a hundred and nine dollars a month can buy.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindtlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/kerrik2006%40gma
> il.com
>

_______________________________________________
blindtlk mailing list
blindtlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
blindtlk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/batescampbell%40gmail.
com