[NJTechDiv] Accessible cable TV

[Beatrice Oliveti]

Hi Tracey. I remember you and I used to talk about this all the time! I can{t believe Optimum took away their accessibility options. I disconnected cable to save money. I do cable and an airial antenna now. But it was only a few months ago that I had cable. And I had a streaming box and it had the accessibility. Is your box a streaming box_ If you buy a smart TV it{s only going to read you the channels on the TV not the cable box. But you can use optimum through the optimum tv app on your phone. That will allow you to use your phone as a control and the voiceover will talk back to you. You can also watch your dvred programming on your TV. You might also consider switching to Hulu with live TV, Youtube TV, or Directtv. They{re very accessible on your phone and IPad. Hope this helps. 
Warm Regards, 
Beatrice Oliveti 
National Federation Of The Blind 
Of NJ. Northeast Chapter 
Vice-President 
National Federation Of The Blind Of NJ. Braille Group Co-Facilitator 
Bayonne, NJ.  Lions Club Administrator 
Cell: 2019838124 
Email: beatrice.oliveti at gmail.com 

> On May 18, 2026, at 9:17 AM, Tracy Carcione via NJTechDiv <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> For a long time, we had software on our Optimum cable box that would announce the channel and what was playing, and I could also use it to access the DVR.
> Optimum doesn’t support it anymore, and their new cable box doesn’t have any accessibility at all.
> They think that maybe a smart TV would have it, but I don’t know.
> If I buy a smart TV, and turn on Talkback or whatever it has, will it tell me what’s playing on a channel and have ways to access the DVR?
> For instance, I was able to move through the shows on a channel until I found the one I wanted to record, then hit record.  Later, I could go into the DVR, scroll through the recordings, find the one I wanted, watch it, then go through the menu to either keep it or delete it.  Imagine that.  Can I get those same features on a smart TV?
> I have 0 interest in using Alexa.
>  
> It’s extremely annoying that Optimum had accessibility, and then just ditched it completely.
> Tracy
>  
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