[Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically

Thu Oct 29 06:39:03 UTC 2009

Obviously, this isn't necessarily going to be the case. For example, I don't
know of any accessible cell phone that costs thousands of dollars, at least
not in US dollars. I got my cell phone / screen reader combination for
around $400. I don't have problems with it crashing, and I don't think it's
junk. The LG phones don't have as much accessibility, but they're quite a
bit cheaper. The new iPhone is only a few hundred dollars, and it includes
Voice Over. Note that the sighted pay the same price for the iPhone as the
blind.

The TiVo runs Linux, so I wouldn't be surprised if a screen reader could be
included on the TiVo. Of course, I don't know how much work the TiVo
application would need in order to become accessible.

Cable, satellite and other set top boxes could also be placed on the web and
then accessed through an accessible web interface. I think several devices
already allow you to do this.

There's also the option of putting a TV tuner in your PC and running an
accessible media control software to turn your PC into a cable ready TV and
a PVR. If you already have the PC and the screen reader, you could do this
for just another hundred dollars or so.

There's plenty of reasons to be pessimistic, but it's by no means a foregone
conclusion and there's no reason to give up all hope.

--
Christopher
chaltain at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dewey Bradley
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:23 PM
To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically

If we do see it, it will be so high in price that most of us will not be
able to use them, and they will have many problems like crashing just like
the cell phones are.
We spend thousonds for something that is junk.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Chao" <mattchao at verizon.net>
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances" 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically

> At this rate, wonder if we'll see accessible cable and satellite in 
> our lifetime.--Matthew Chao
>
> At 02:35 PM 10/28/2009, you wrote:
>>I agree.
>>If I am not mistaken the FCC past some laws in 1998 which mandated 
>>that all communication devises will be made accessible to people with 
>>disabilities.
>>They did a lot of testing and determined the technology was available. 
>>All that had to be done was to pull it together and create the 
>>accessible devises.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>[mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
>>ckrugman at sbcglobal.net
>>Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 3:02 PM
>>To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
>>Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically
>>
>>It sounds like there needs to be increased regulation of cable and 
>>satellite providers that includes the requirement that on screen 
>>software and tuner boxes are made accessible. Unless regulation occurs 
>>we as blind people will be left out of the increased digital age.
>>Chuck
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "James Aldrich" <jajkaldrich at gmail.com>
>>To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
>><electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 9:16 AM
>>Subject: [Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically
>>
>>
>> > Hello all!
>> >
>> > Dar and I recently had to call Direct TV to have a technician come out 
>> > to
>> > determine what was wrong with the satellite signal in our bedroom.  The
>> > Living room TV and digital  Box as well as Satellite Box seemed to be
>> > working okay!  I guess that would be all fine and good if they would
>> > simply
>> > send a technician as we requested!  They seem to be so insistent that
>> > they,
>> > the customer representative  can solve our problem if we could tell 
>> > them
>> > what is on the screen!  That sounds familiar right?  Depending on the
>> > representative, some become so indignant with us if we don't tell them
>> > what
>> > is on that screen!  It is almost as if they don't believe we are blind,
>> > they
>> > talk down to us or blame us for the trouble we are having!  We finally 
>> > got
>> > a
>> > supervisor and we managed to get a number for our account!  The first
>> > technician who came out didn't know what was up or down I don't think! 
>> > He
>> > called in someone else and the trouble was found and fixed within a 
>> > minute
>> > or so.  The trouble was on the outside hardware!  For whatever reason, 
>> > our
>> > local digital TV box wasn't working but it somehow mysteriously started

>> > to
>> > work late last night!  Direct doesn't bring in the local channels in 
>> > this
>> > area, have to rely on the on air signal.  Surely!  There is a better 
>> > way
>> > to
>> > deal with this problem!  We did tell them to keep in our record that we
>> > are
>> > blind!  We did have a neighbor come over and he couldn't solve the 
>> > problem
>> > either.
>> >
>> > Direct TV works well when working properly!  I wish we didn't have to 
>> > deal
>> > with so many indifferent customer service reps just to get something
>> > fixed!
>> > This of course is a part of being a large company and don't know 
>> > whether
>> > the
>> > reps are outsourced yet or not!  Regardless of the situation, I hope
>> > something can be done about this and if a repair technician is 
>> > requested,
>> > we
>> > can get one, no questions asked!  Hopefully, everything will be fine 
>> > for
>> > the
>> > next year or so.  Dar did get a customer agreement where she pays extra
>> > for
>> > having the extra supportive services.  I'm certain they can solve a 
>> > good
>> > percentage of the problems over the phone if the customer can read the
>> > screen!  I understand this and also understand this is how they are
>> > trained,
>> > but there are situations as ours where sending the technician is really
>> > the
>> > best plan which usually involves fewer people!  Of course, it would be
>> > nice
>> > if we could get screen reader technology to work on their hard disks in
>> > their receivers but that's another matter!
>> >
>> > Thanks for reading!
>> >
>> > Jim Aldrich
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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