[NJTechDiv] Accessible cable TV

[Lori Falk]

Good morning,

We have a optimum cable box that was replaced just a few years ago and you can use the speak button on the remote to say turn on voice guidance if I remember correctly. 
At that point, you can then arrow aroundfor the menus and I know we turned on audio description.
Unfortunately, my husband turns off all the voice guidance features on the TVs and one TV has the audio description turned on and it just stays on.

Sorry if this is not what you were looking for but I do hope it’s helpful.


> On May 18, 2026, at 9:16 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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