[BlindTlk] Roku Call to Action

[pmdonahue2 at gmail.com]

Good evening everyone,

                I received the below message from the Tech-VI list
concerning Roku's effort to require app developers to insure that their
products meet accessibility standards. Any app submitted for inclusion that
does not comply with Roku's accessible app requirements will not be included
in their App Store. This is commendable action by Roku but it doesn't go far
enough to address other accessibility issues with their appliances mainly
the quality of the Roku Audio Reader Voice. If you heard it yourselves
you'll know that it sounds like something from a 1950s science fiction
movie. Hal, the voice of the robot in 2001 A Space Odyssey has a far clearer
voice than does the Roku Audio Reader. With the advent of A-I and other
speech quality enhancements there's no reason why they couldn't fix this
long-term earsore for blind users of their products. No mention is made of
plans to address the quality of the Roku Audio Reader voice. It's time we
let them know that this needs serious attention. The message from the
Blind-Tech list appears after my comments.

 

                While at it I urged them to make audio description easier
for blind people to activate along with other accessibility features of
their products namely adding the ability to controll these features via
Roku's Audio Reader. This functions is similar to other PDAS such as Alexa,
Google Assistant, and Siri. In addition to making it easier for blind
persons to use audio description on Roku's Appliances being able to control
accessibility features with one's voice would also benefit those with
mobility impairments and limited use of their hands that make using a remote
difficult.

 

                Not wanting to ask others to do what I'm unwilling to do and
to put my deeds where my mouth is I sent an e-mail to Roku congratulating
them on their wish to improve the accessibility of apps in their store, that
they must do more to fix the quality of the Roku Audio Reader Voice, and add
the ability to controll accessibility features of their appliances with
one's voice. A copy of this message appears below. 

 

                Ok folks I've sounded the charge and need others to follow
in my heals. If we contact them in mass we're sure to get their attention.
This is more effective than a meer petition. So you can follow my lead here
is the e-mail address for Roku's accessibility department:
accessibility at roku.com <mailto:accessibility at roku.com> 

 

                It wouldn't hurt if we contacted others in this industry to
adopt the same accessible app policy and to add voice control of
accessibility features of their tv appliances. Comments like "They'll get
around to it when there's oceanfront property in Arizona", "You're beating
your head against a wall","They won't listen to us" etc won't get us
anywhere. The blind community is better than that. Now let's get them! That
is unless you find having to deale with inconsistent behavior of apps on
your tv or tv appliance,having to fumble through your device's settings to
activate audio description, only being able to activate audio description
after a selection has started playing, not being able to turn audio
description, closed captioning, and other accessibility features on globally
a strange and amuzing phenomenon. Now to get it done.

 

                

 

 

From:    tech-vi at groups.io <mailto:tech-vi at groups.io>  on behalf of David
Goldfield david.goldfield at outlook.com <mailto:david.goldfield at outlook.com> 

Sent:      Tuesday, April 9, 2024 7:41 AM

To:          Tech-VI Announcement List

Subject:                [Tech-VI] Roku is Working on Making Streaming More
Accessible to Those With 

Disabilities & Is Putting New Limits on Autoplay

 

>From the Tech-VI list owner: 

Unless Roku has improved the voice for their text-to-speech I am not
comfortable 

recommending them to blind users.

If you have feedback regarding the quality of their TTS voices please direct
it to them and 

not to my inbox.

 

Cord Cutters News - Monday, April 8, 2024 at 2:48?PM

Roku is Working on Making Streaming More 

Accessible to Those With Disabilities & Is 

Putting New Limits on Autoplay

Today, Roku informed app developers that later this year, there will be new
certifications to 

make their devices more accessible to those with disabilities. Developers
will have until 

October 1, 2024, to update their apps with these new features or not be able
to be in the 

Roku app store. 

Here is the new new requirements for streaming services with apps on Roku
that will go 

into effect later this year:

4.8 Channels must comply with all applicable accessibility laws and global 

settings related to accessibility and user experience. Channels must 

provide closed captions and audio descriptions for content where required 

by law. If including closed captions, the channel must follow the user
global 

settings for closed captioning, and support the following closed captioning 

settings in the Options menu: On, Off, On instant replay, and On mute (Roku 

TVs only). For VOD content, channels must synchronize the captions with 

the audio. Channels must adhere to Roku's autoplay policy (Effective 

after October 1, 2024).

Roku will also require channels to honor a new autoplay rule that allows
Roku owners to 

disable auto-play on all apps with a single click. This is something we
learned about earlier 

this year but is now being required of app developers. 

Certification Requirement: If autoplay is disabled on a device, channels 

may not begin video playback until the user navigates to a video or
explicitly 

starts playback. Once playback begins, channels may continue playing the 

video until the user navigates away from it, pauses it, turns the device
off, or 

a screensaver starts. Channels must adhere to this requirement to pass 

certification (Effective October 1, 2024).

Developers can use the roDeviceInfo.isAutoPlayEnabled() function to 

check whether auto-play video is enabled or disabled on a device. This 

function returns a flag indicating the current state of the auto-play
setting. 

Developers can use this function to ensure that the auto-play device setting


is respected when customers browse content in their apps.

Both of these changes are small, but developers need to follow them, or they
won't be able 

to be on Roku players or Roku TVs going forward.

Please follow us on Facebook and X for more news, tips, and reviews. Need
cord cutting 

tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help. 

https://cordcuttersnews.com/roku-is-working-on-making-streaming-more-accessi
ble-to-

those-with-disabilities-is-putting-new-limits-on-autoplay/

 

 

David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

If you need help using your assistive technology learn about my training
services by visiting

WWW.ScreenReaderTraining.com <http://WWW.ScreenReaderTraining.com> 

Am Yisrael Chai

The Nation of Israel Lives!

JAWS Certified, 2022

NVDA Certified Expert

Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive news, events and
information 

regarding the blindness assistive technology field.

Email: tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io <mailto:tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io> 

www.DavidGoldfield.com <http://www.DavidGoldfield.com> 

 

To:          accessibility at roku.com <mailto:accessibility at roku.com> 

Subject:                Roku Accessibility Enhancements Fall Short!

 

Hello Team Roku,

 

                My wife and I are blind and once owned a Sharp HD TV with
Roku installed. That tv has since 

been replaced. Our Roku experience was okay. Due to several
accessibility-related issues we chose not to 

replace our Roku device.

 

                Today I read an article concerning enhancements Roku has
planned to improve accessibility. 

These are steps in the right direction but you are failing to address issues
of serious concern to those 

who use the Roku Audio Reader. The quality of the Audio Reader voice is
horrible! It sounds like 

something out of an old science fiction movie from the 1950s. Amazon, Apple,
Google, and Microsoft 

have developed similar voice screen readers that are far more pleasant to
hear. With the coming of A-I 

and to compete with other companies for a bigger piece of the consumer pie
for God sakes do 

something to improve the quality of the Roku Audio Reader Voice!

 

                The second issue is one all manufacturers of tv appliances
must address to make using the 

accessibility features better. That is being able to activate or deactivate
these features using their voice. 

This is a functionality that should have been available on these devices
when they were launched. Many 

blind people depend on audio description for greater enjoyment of movies and
tv series. However, to 

activate audio description one mus often engage in acrobatics in the
settings areas of their appliance or 

wait to activate audio description after a selection begins playing. The
situation is only made worse if an 

appliance doesn't have the ability to turn audio description on globally
activating audio description for 

any selection that contains it.

 

                If the ability to activate audio description with ones voice
would allow one to launch it prior to 

the start of a selection This would be awesome! If one can launch audio
description globally when the 

viewer makes a selection that includes audio description it will
automatically play. Another enhancement 

would be to have the Roku Audio Reader advise a blind viewer if audio
description for a particular 

selection is available or to alert them if it is not.

 

                Being able to control audio description and other
accessibility features of a Roku Device with 

one's voice would also benefit customers with limited mobility or limited
use of their hands which make 

the use of a remote difficult. If you address these two accessibility areas
you could have more future 

Roku Customers. Roku could become the first company to finally add the
ability for it's customers to 

control accessibility features with nothing more than their voice. Please
don't disappoint us.

 

                Finally the involvement of customers with disabilities when
it comes to accessibility-related 

matters is a must. If you want to know how to make your appliances easier
for disabled customers to use 

you need only reach out to us for suggestions to how they can be made
better. I have shared with you 

accessibility-related issues you do not appear to be addressing that have
been of concern to disabled 

consumers of your products. It would be an honor to see Roku become the
first company to include 

voice control of accessibility features of its devices an example for others
to follow. Your actions to 

address all accessibility concerns of disabled users will be very much
appreciated and will result in more 

satisfied Roku Customers.

 

Peter Donahue