Dear AccessWorld Editor,

I appreciate the honest and thoughtful writing in Deborah Kendrick's July article, Blindness and Medical Facilities, Take Two: More About Advocating for Yourself in a Medical Situation. I wanted to also provide a very helpful document prepared by the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind [PCB], which may be helpful to share with the medical community. The PCB is working toward options in producing this information in a meaningful format to include illustrations, images, and, if possible, videos. Please share the link to this current version with Access World readers.

Best Regards,

Jule Ann Lieberman CLVT ATP

Vice President, Pennsylvania Council of the Blind

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

I found the tips in Bill Holton's July article, Getting the Most out of Sighted Computer Assistance: How to Help the Helpers, to be helpful in reminding me to use the tools at my disposal when receiving training. Would you consider a follow-up article explaining how a blind person, not familiar with the mouse and less familiar with the visual elements on a screen, can instruct a sighted person?

Thanks.

Rebecca Skipper

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

I must take exception with the July article, Accessible Textbook Options for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, by Jamie Pauls.

The article portrays blind people as passive consumers of services at the mercy of textbook publishers and large non-profit organizations, rather than active producers of accessible textbook solutions. Specifically, the article failed to make any mention that blind people can obtain extremely accurate and accessible copies of textbooks by scanning the book using Kurzweil 1000. Unlike Open Book, it has the latest versions of the world's premier optical character recognition software. Even large books with many pages can be fully scanned and recognized within a few hours using a computer with an i7 processor and large format scanner. Issues regarding photo captions and sidebars can be managed by obtaining international editions of the textbook, when available, where most of this superfluous information is removed.

For more than 40 years, thousands of blind people have advanced and improved upon scanning and optical character recognition technology, so it is a highly useful solution today where blind people can often create their own accessibility.

Thanks,

Kelly Pierce

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

This letter is in response to Bill Holton's July article, Getting the Most out of Sighted Computer Assistance: How to Help the Helpers.

What a fantastic article! I am an instructor at Hadley Institute and I constantly have students inquiring about how to obtain assistance with their access technology. I will definitely recommend this article. As always, Access World provides a wealth of useful information.

Kudos to you and your staff!

Regards,

Vikki Vaughan, M.Ed.

Technology Instructor

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

I enjoyed your July article [Accessible Textbook Options for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired]. It brought back good memories when I was a student at the University of Michigan and my room was filled with RFBD blue boxes with recorded books on cassette tapes. I wish I had then the technology and the resources that I have at my disposal today.

You forgot to mention Kindle. Recently Kindle became accessible to visually impaired readers. I have been using Kindle for about two years. I found a couple of apps that can remove the digital rights management (DRM), which was an obstacle when Kindle was not accessible. I still use them because I prefer to read PDF books in Kurzweil. The program that I use is called Codex. It was developed by a British blind programmer named James Schol.

Best regards,

Luis Eduardo Pena

Dear AccessWorld Editor,

Does Deborah Kendrick, author of the July article, Blindness and Medical Facilities, Take Two: More About Advocating for Yourself in a Medical Situation, believe every single blind person in the world owns a "smart" phone or tablet? If so, she is mistaken. Many can neither afford nor spatially grasp how to use the "smart" phones, and we all know Apple has a long way to go in making its products accessible to everyone.

Sincerely,

Belle Mills

Two "Good News" Items from Washington, DC

Described TV and Accessible Higher Ed Materials Gaining Ground

Read this edition of AFB's DirectConnect newsletter online.

American Printing House for the Blind City Accessibility Survey now Available; Respondents have a chance to win an Orbit Reader 20

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) seeks to learn about the current accessibility of cities and how city accessibility can be improved. The organization is offering a survey to gather this information. APH invites those who are blind or have low vision as well as those with experience in this area such as family, caregivers, and professionals in the field of blindness and visual impairment to respond to the survey. By completing the survey, respondents will be eligible to win an Orbit Reader 20 braille display. The survey will be available until Friday, August 18, 2017.

Blindness or low vision shouldn't be a deterrent to keeping fit or being healthy, but in one sense, that has long been the case.

You can buy a membership to the gym, but you need transportation to get there and some way of accessing what those pesky digital displays found on most fitness machines are saying to you. If swimming or running or cycling is your passion, having a partner or transportation is still relevant and essential.

Even exercising at home with a popular video can pose problems if you can't see the screen.

Technology, we all know, can be an amazing game changer. Now, for some of us, it's changing the game of access to health and fitness for blind people, and Anna Dresner's book, Ten Thousand Steps, Cane Not Included is brimming with a smorgasbord of approaches to that can be done without sighted assistance or even, in many cases, without leaving home.

Ten Thousand Steps, Cane Not Included: A Guide to Fitness Tech for Blind Users is not a fitness book per se. Rather, it is a wonderful introduction to the fitness guides available and accessible to blind people. In her customarily clear and organized style, Anna Dresner has rounded up a diverse collection of recordings, gadgets, apps, and tips all usable without vision and all accessible. There is something for everyone here, and if you don't want to learn any new tech tricks or spend a lot of money, you will still find some great ways to get moving!

In the first section, Dresner discusses a variety of recorded materials aimed at teaching and guiding us through exercise, yoga, meditation, or some combination. The very first collection of products covered in the book are the workouts available from BlindAlive and Eyes-Free Fitness (see Introducing BlindAlive and Eyes-free Fitness for more information). If you read our June article, you know these particular workouts range from beginner to advanced and are designed with blind consumers in mind. This section of the book also introduces other beneficial approaches. Being healthy and staying fit is more than working out. We learn about yoga programs available on CD or digital download or as iPhone apps. Some are designed specifically for people with visual impairments while others, though created for sighted audiences, are deemed by the author to be accessible. Some are free (such as those from the National Library Service's Braille and Audio Reading Download, BARD, for example), while others can be ordered from such familiar sources as Amazon, Audible, or iTunes. Dresner covers books and programs for practicing meditation and mindfulness, and, because getting restful and adequate sleep is a vital component to a healthy lifestyle, she also offers tips and apps for managing your slumber.

Getting Moving with Fitness Tech

As promised in the book's subtitle, this is also a guide to fitness tech. If you own or plan to own a wearable device, such as an Apple Watch or Fitbit, the book provides all the information you need to get moving, track your progress, and do more with those devices. The author discusses the features of the various Fitbit models and walks the reader through using the fitness-related features of these products.

If you already have an iPhone and have no intention of purchasing an extra device like an Apple Watch or Fitbit, there is an abundance of things you can do to kick-start your fitness program using apps that are free or inexpensive for the device you already own.

We learn in this book about apps for working out, apps for yoga, apps for meditating, and apps to measure sleep. We learn about apps that will remind us if we are not exercising and apps that will track our progress.

Dresner lets us know which apps factor in the possibility that a consumer might be exercising from a wheelchair rather than a standing position. Similarly, she notes when certain apps might need a bit of adjusting due to the somewhat atypical motion that occurs when one hand is occupied with maneuvering a white cane or guide dog.

As is true throughout the book, considerable thought and detail have gone into the presentation of each app. We are given the name of the app in the app store, the name it bears once downloaded, the size required to store it on your mobile device, the developer's name, and the price. As each app is discussed, we are given concise and clear detail of the appearance of the screen. She tells the reader which gesture to use in VoiceOver, where the buttons within an app are located on the screen, and the combination of gestures and/or buttons to employ to get a desired result. If an app is somewhat inaccessible and she has found a workaround, we are given that bit of added value as well.

To Buy or Not to Buy

So many health problems, including diabetes, breathing disorders, arthritis, and circulatory issues, can be diminished with healthy habits and exercise. Blind people have been excluded, in many ways, from the fitness parade and technology is once again moving toward leveling that playing field.

Anna Dresner speaks for most of us, ages 9 to 90, when she so charmingly sums up her own sparked interest in fitness and health. "If I'm lucky enough to live to be an old woman," she writes, "I want to be able to get down on the floor and play with any kids I happen to know, and I'd like to be as mobile as possible for as long as possible."

Indeed, that is a sentiment that will resonate with most of us who read those words. This book will enable you to do that ? and probably much more. It is a small book. You can read it easily in one sitting. And you will want to keep it readily available for reading again and consulting for a particular tidbit or two. It is available in a range of formats to suit your preferences. Because technology is a moving target, some items described in this book will change. You, however, want to get moving or moving more right this minute, so starting with this book while it is in step with the technology available to us is exactly the place to begin.

Product Information

Ten Thousand Steps, Cane Not Included: A Guide to Fitness Tech for Blind Users, by Anna Dresner
Publisher: National Braille Press, 800-548-7323
Available formats and prices: hardcopy braille (one volume), or downloaded as DAISY, eBraille, or Microsoft Word files: $12; DAISY, eBraille, or Word version on a USB flash drive: $14.

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As a blind homeowner I am often faced with household chores that can be, let's say, a bit problematic. Cleaning the garage. Mowing the backyard. Trimming the bushes. They can all be done without vision, albeit using different techniques. Maybe it's not safe to mow the grass barefoot, but I find it is the only way to tell where I've mowed and where I still have to mow. And I do have to play several games of "what is this?" with my wife when I find unknown gizmos and gadgets on garage shelves. One chore that I usually left automated was the lawn sprinkler system. The control box contained a collection of switches and LED screens—none of them accessible. There was a rain gauge, but it only prevented the system from triggering if it was actively raining. If, say, it had rained for two days straight but had then stopped, the only way I could prevent a watering cycle was to physically unplug the system.

I solved this problem with the installation of a Rachio Smart Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller. This sprinkler control box connects to the Internet via your home's wi-fi network, and uses an app to set controls. It's also, as it says right there in the name, pretty smart.

In this article I will describe how I use my Rachio to keep my lawn more or less green. Then I'll discuss a growing trend in "connected home" devices: the ability to "try before you buy."

Getting Connected

I made arrangements with a professional irrigation tech to install the Rachio control box. It took him about 10 minutes to swap out my old control box and connect the Rachio. I had already set up a Rachio account using my physical and email addresses, and after logging into the Rachio app I was able to use VoiceOver on my iPhone to set up all of my various watering zones. The system briefly turned on each of my six watering zones, one after another, offering me the chance to give each zone a unique name, such as "roadside strip," and "vegetable garden." I was subsequently prompted to enter the type of sprinkler head, the soil type and shade level for each zone, the slope of the plot, and what's growing in the zone: full season grass, warm season grass, trees, shrubs, etc.

Rachio uses the information you enter, along with your home location, to set a watering schedule and durations. These defaults can be easily overwritten. You can also create multiple watering schedules, which, as I will explain, is a handy workaround for one of the app's few accessibility shortfalls.

Rachio can use your local weather reports to postpone a scheduled watering, not only if it has rained, but also if it's going to rain. It will also adjust watering duration to accommodate seasonal shifts and heat spells. Additionally, you can also add extra time to one or more zones, if, say, your backyard zone has a veggie garden, like mine, and you want to give it an extra hit of H2O. These features can be enabled and disabled as desired.

The Rachio mobile app is available for both iOS and Android, and it's mostly accessible using VoiceOver or TalkBack. There are several buttons that have not been properly labeled, but most can be deciphered from their developer names, such as "Nav Activity, and "Nav Dashboard Icon."

The scheduling screen has pop-up controls that enable you to select your own watering frequency—daily, every other day, every third day, and so on—and time of day to run the schedule. There's also a one-time watering screen. Unfortunately, the timer dial control is completely inaccessible both on the iOS and the Android app. Here's where setting multiple watering schedules comes in handy. I have set a schedule that only waters a single zone. I did this for all six of my zones, and when, for example, I want to do an extra watering cycle for my vegetable garden I select that schedule and invoke the "Run schedule now" button. Either that or I can double tap the "Enable" button and the watering will take place at the time I scheduled—which allows me to water my garden at 6 am without having to roll out of bed, or from my brother's house a thousand miles away.

There is now an even easier way to accomplish both this and other Rachio tasks. Recently, Rachio began offering an Amazon Echo skill, so it's now also possible to control the device with voice commands such as, "Ask Rachio to start zone 6 for 20 minutes." Google Home and Samsung SmartThings are also supported, though I have not had the opportunity to try either of these.

All in all, I believe the Rachio Smart Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller is a valuable addition to the accessible smart home. It can also save water and perhaps even pay for itself in a season or two. Check with your water utility company. Many municipalities offer rebates for the installation of these and other water-saving devices.

Try Before You Buy

If you visit Rachio.com/try you can request a guest logon and password to run the Rachio app in demo mode, which will allow you test the various settings but won't allow you to save your changes.

Another similar product is the Rainmachine Smart Sprinkler, which also offers a demo mode. Simply download the iOS or Android app and you can invoke the demo mode directly. I have not tested this device, but the app seems even more accessible than the Rachio. All of the buttons have been labelled, and a company support technician assures me that the developers used only standard app controls. Nonetheless, if this device is of interest, your own due diligence is advised.

In any case, I believe these "try before you buy" control demos are a welcome trend that should be encouraged. For most users, they are a useful window into the device's capabilities; for touch screen reader users they also offer a much needed window into accessibility.

Product Information

Product: Rachio Smart Wi-Fi Sprinkler Controller is available in 8- and 16-zone models.
Price: $199 and up
Available from: Rachio, 844-472-2446

Product: Rainmachine Smart Sprinklers are available in 8, 12 and 16 zone models
Price: $159 and up
Available from: Rainmachine, 844-498-8707

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By now, you have likely heard about the new Seeing AI app from Microsoft. It's free, and this groundbreaking app combines the functions of nearly every image and product recognition app that uses your iPhone or iPad's camera and more.

In future issues of AccessWorld, we plan to take a much deeper dive into this new offering, which Microsoft has rightly dubbed a potential "Swiss Army Knife of tools for visually impaired people." We'll describe where Seeing AI came from, and, more importantly, where it's heading. In the meantime, just in case you have not heard about Seeing AI, here's what it can do:

Read Text: Seeing AI includes two text OCR modes, Short Text and Document. The Document mode works like many text recognition apps, such as KNFB-Reader. In Document mode simply aim your camera toward a document page and follow the prompts which will alert you as to which edges and corners are not yet visible. Seeing AI will instruct you to "Hold steady," and then automatically snap a photo and send it to Microsoft servers for recognition. Note: You can also take a picture manually by pressing the "Take Picture" button. The app does an excellent job of maintaining formatting, so you can use VoiceOver's Heading, list items, and other quick navigation gestures. The recognition is slower than KNFB-Reader because the OCR engine is not onboard your device, but it seems to be just as accurate.

The Short Text mode turns on your camera and searches for printed material continuously. When it finds printed text, it translates it into machine text, and then speaks it aloud. The Short Text mode is not as thorough and accurate as Document mode, but it makes going through recipe cards and the mail a breeze! It can also be quite useful when searching for a conference room number, or when your computer stops talking, as it will identify text on PC monitors. It's a must-have if you have a messy desk and want to get organized. Using Seeing AI it's possible to go through a stack of familiar but disorganized papers in only seconds per page. Because Seeing AI is continuously scanning for printed text, the app often interrupts itself with new text. One way to prevent this is to move the device up and away once it begins speaking, so it will not spot new text and move on.

Scan Bar Codes: Seeing AI does perhaps the best job of accessible mobile device bar code scanning around. It can be problematic, locating the bar code on a can or box, but Seeing AI beeps when it spots one, and as you move the camera closer the beeps grow faster until the app snaps the code and identifies that can of corn or box of cake mix. There is also a "More information" button, if the barcode database includes it, with product details such as nutrition labeling, calorie counts and even cooking instructions. It can take a few seconds to locate the bar code and snap an image. It's by no means as swift and easy to use as a standalone barcode reader, such as the I.D. Mate Galaxy, which AccessWorld reviewed in the August 2016 issue of AccessWorld. But, it does get the job done a lot more accessibly than other mobile apps.

Recognize Faces: You can create a photo library of friends and family, and the app will tell you when someone it recognizes is near. Snap a picture of an individual, and it will estimate the age—sorry, ladies—and offer an emotion tag, such as smiling or frowning. The app will tell you when a face is in focus and offer up the person's name if they are in your app image database. This might be handy at a conference or party setting to help you find friends or colleagues, but I would advise using a phone case with a lanyard strap and Bluetooth earbuds so you're not annoying the crowd by pointing your phone hither and yon. Also, check the lighting setting in the app's Settings menu. Otherwise that phone dangling from your neck may appear as a headlight.

Scenes: This is a beta feature, destined to improve with time. Snap a photo of your environment and Seeing AI will attempt to describe it. "A street corner with signs," for instance, or "Two dogs and one person on a lawn."

One extremely useful feature found in Seeing AI is its appearance on the Sharesheet. Tap any image on your camera roll, an image attached to an email or text, or even one of those annoying images that appear on Twitter and other social media sites with no description tag. The "Recognize with Seeing AI" Sharesheet option will send the image directly to the app immediately, and recognize both any text it finds, and offer an image description. If the option to "Recognize with Seeing AI" does not appear, select the "More" option in the Sharesheet and switch the option to "On".

The app is only available for iOS, and it can be downloaded from the iOS App Store. Microsoft has produced an excellent YouTube introduction demonstrating this powerful new app's features. Text and video help is also available in the app's Quick Help tab.

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Along with grilling out, enjoying time with friends, and taking road trips with my wife, one of the things I look forward to each summer is the opportunity to find out what's happening at all of the conventions related to blindness and low vision. Although I am not able to attend all of them, the ones I do attend allow me to network with others in the blind community, and, of course, put my hands on the latest releases of the coolest technology around.

This year, I had the privilege of attending the American Council of the Blind's annual Conference and Convention in Reno, Nevada. While I didn't see any brand-new products there, I was pleased to learn that many products that have been promised for some time are finally beginning to reach the hands of consumers. Let's look at what products are finally shipping, and which products continue to improve.

The BrailleNote Touch Continues to Mature

In the April 2017 issue of AccessWorld, I wrote about my experiences at this year's CSUN assistive technology conference. While I was there, I learned about upcoming features in version 3 of HumanWare's KeySoft suite of products for the BrailleNote Touch. One thing that was promised was the ability to update apps individually. At this year's ACB conference, I didn't learn much more about the BrailleNote Touch other than that version 4 of KeySoft was coming. This version should fix problems that Touch users have been having with YouTube. There are bound to be more treasures in the next version of KeySoft, so be sure and visit the BrailleNote Touch website for the latest information.

HumanWare Victor Products Just Keep Getting Smarter

While I was at the HumanWare booth, I literally got to hold, but not demo, a brand-new product from the company. The Victor Reader Trek combines the power of the Victor Reader Stream e-book reader and audio player with the Trekker Breeze GPS navigation system. Fortunately for all of us, Blind Bargains has once again come through with an in-depth podcast on the Victor Reader Trek that explains how it works and demonstrates its features. I found the unit to be quite pleasant to hold—it is the same size as the Victor Reader Stream, but a bit thicker--and I am sure many will find this product to be a must-have item when it ships sometime in October. The cost of the unit will be $699.

BrailleSense Polaris Can Be Yours!

At CSUN, I was able to take a look at the BrailleSense Polaris, the newest Android-based notetaker from HIMS, Inc. At that time, the product was not yet shipping, but today you can pick one up for $5,795. AccessWorld has plans to evaluate the BrailleSense Polaris sometime after the summer conventions are over.

What's New from VFO

When I stopped by the booth for VFO, the company that now includes Freedom Scientific among others, I learned that ElBraille, the Windows 10-based notetaker that works with VFO's Focus 14 braille display, was very popular among convention attendees. The price of the ElBraille without a braille display or JAWS license is $1,795. Here is a more complete price list if you are interested in this product.

When I asked for a tease regarding the latest version of JAWS, I was told that one important change will be the way future products from VFO are identified. You can expect the release of JAWS 2018 sometime this fall, probably at the end of October. Rather than trying to keep track of version numbers for all VFO software releases, you will only need to refer to the latest release of each product by its year of release. Support for the Edge browser in Windows 10 is promised for JAWS 18 users, and will certainly be a part of JAWS 2018. Another interesting development is the expansion of the Convenient OCR feature found in JAWS. This means that those who only need to do basic scans of documents, such as reading mail delivered by the post office, may not need to own a separate piece of software such as Open Book to accomplish this task. More complex scanning needs, such as the ability to adjust various aspects of how the scan takes place, will still require separate software.

Orbit Reader 20 is Coming in for a Landing Soon

I wrote favorably about the Orbit Reader 20 refreshable braille display from American Printing House for the Blind after getting a look at it at CSUN. While some convention attendees were able to take home a few of these devices, they are not expected to be widely available for a few more months, and APH is not yet announced official pricing for the Orbit Reader 20 on their product page.

Triumph Technology Offers Braille Displays with Active Control

For several conventions now, I have stopped by the Triumph Technology booth and visited with its staff. For some reason, I have not taken the time to look at the braille displays they have to offer that feature Active Tactile Control technology, which senses when the reader's hand has reached the far end of the line of braille, and advances the screen automatically. Even with a display as small as the 16-cell Actilino, reading is effortless. You can own one of these displays for $2,495.

In addition to looking at technology, I had the pleasure of finally meeting award-winning singer/songwriter Ginny Owens in person. Ginny was at the Triumph Technology booth for both the ACB and NFB conventions this year. If you aren't familiar with her music, you should be.

OrCam MyEye Continues to Innovate

In the March 2016 issue of AccessWorld, as part of our coverage of that year's ATIA Conference, I wrote about OrCam, a pair of glasses with a camera and earpiece mounted on them. The ability to read menus and identify faces by "looking" at them was intriguing, to say the least. At this year's ACB convention, I learned that OrCam is continuing to develop its product. In an upcoming release of the software, available on an SD card, the facial recognition feature will be improved, OrCam will be able to identify hundreds of thousands of barcodes, and many of the product's features will be automated if the user chooses to configure them that way. I look forward to seeing what the company has to offer in the future.

Final Thoughts

While I wasn't left breathless by anything at this year's ACB convention, I was pleased to see that many long-anticipated products are beginning to reach the hands of consumers. Also, products that have been out for a while are continuing to receive regular updates, bringing many new features along the way. It was also good to hear those who were manning the various exhibit booths talk excitedly about what their companies had to offer.

Be sure to read AccessWorld regularly to stay informed about the latest releases of existing products, as well as to learn about upcoming and just-released technology.

Do you have any comments about where technology is heading? We would love to hear from you. What are you excited about? What frustrates you? If you could see one new product develop over the next year, what would it be? One thing is for sure: exciting times are ahead!

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At the AccessWorld Tech Summit in March 2017, part of the American Foundation for the Blind's annual Leadership Conference, I was so excited while listening to a presentation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about accessible devices including cable boxes. I figured I could call my cable company when I got home and get an accessible cable box. I was wrong.

FCC Regulations Summary for Accessible Cable Boxes

The FCC conference presenters were Suzy Rosen Singleton, Chief, and Will Schell, Attorney-Advisor, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. They focused on access to video description.

Mr. Shel told the audience that any device that plays video and is made after December 2016 must be accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. Accessibility includes the ability to use menus, controls, and settings. In addition, the video description setting must be easily accessible with a specific key or button.

Accessible set-top boxes must be available on request from the TV provider, at no cost. The largest cable companies are required to have the accessible boxes available now.

Spectrum

In 2016, Charter Communications acquired Time Warner Cable, which was my cable company before the merger. So, my current cable provider is Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications. According to a May 2016 CNN report, Charter was the number three provider in the US and Time Warner was number two, with Comcast being number one. Charter also purchased Bright House, a smaller cable company. CNN projected that Charter Communications cable service will be in over 18 million homes in the US. Therefore, after the merger, Charter Communications became a major player in the cable industry. I live in New York City, which is a major market.

First Contact: Not Encouraging

When I got home from the conference in March, I called Spectrum to ask about accessible cable boxes. I was on the phone that night for well over an hour as I got transferred from person to person. Most of the people I spoke with had no idea what I was talking about. Others thought I meant closed captioning, not text-to-speech output on the cable device. I finally reached someone who said I already had an accessible cable box. When I explained that there wasn't any text-to-speech, she said Spectrum does not have a voice-activated remote.

After a very long time, I spoke to someone who said she knew what to do. She said Spectrum needed to send me the necessary computer codes. I asked if the codes worked with the Mac and she said they did. Apparently, cable box accessibility was available through my computer. Wrong.

She tried to send the codes but that did not work. She said I needed a different modem. An appointment was scheduled for a technician to fix the problem. I was still very hopeful.

Spectrum's First Solution: a Laptop

A technician and supervisor came to my house twice. Both were extremely nice and tried very hard. We spent many hours on this problem. The end result was that the Mac could not use the Spectrum codes. Furthermore, I could not use my cable box and my old modem was fine. Instead, Spectrum gave me a large Windows laptop with the Spectrum app and NVDA screen reader installed. The only way I had access to the Spectrum guide and descriptive video was through the laptop.

This was unacceptable. I could not watch TV with my family and still have complete accessibility. Furthermore, I ended up showing the technician and supervisor the best way to teach someone how to use the Spectrum app with NVDA.

Blaming Time Warner for Spectrum's Problems with Accessibility

I discovered Spectrum's accessibility website on my own and found that there was an easy way to turn on accessibility features, but I could not get them to work. I called the support number on the website, asked to talk to a supervisor, and finally got through after being on hold for a very long time. He asked where I lived. He explained that Time Warner did not install the necessary equipment for accessibility prior to the merger with Charter Communications. Therefore, it was Time Warner's fault and not Spectrum's that I did not have an accessible cable box.

Next Move: Involving the FCC

It was time for me to take further action. I filed a complaint with the FCC indicating that Spectrum did not provide an accessible cable box. The FCC served my complaint on March 31, 2017. On April 18, I received a phone call from Charter Communications. They understood my frustration and assured me that Charter was working to improve accessibility for the visually impaired and training for technicians and customer support staff. In another phone call, they asked if I would like to be part of their Roku trial. The Roku works with the Spectrum app, not the cable box. The Roku was to be a temporary alternative to the laptop while they worked on improving accessibility on the cable box. I agreed to participate. Several days later, I received a copy of a letter from Charter Communications to the FCC. The letter indicated that I would be taking part in their Roku trial.

Spectrum's Next Solution: The Roku

On June 2, a technician came to install my Roku. After the installation was complete, I had two questions for him. The first was: in the Spectrum app, can you go directly to a specific channel with the Roku? The second was: how do you turn on audio description when in the Spectrum app? The technician had never heard of audio description and kept thinking I was talking about the cable guide.

The technician did not know the answers to my questions and he had to make several calls. No, you can't jump to a specific channel with the Spectrum app and Roku. The choices are to move with the arrow keys channel by channel until you find the one you want. Another option is to keep scrolling for a few seconds, see where you are in the channel list, and then scroll until you get to the channel you want.

The Spectrum technician and the people he called for assistance did not know that although I could not search for a specific channel (since the Roku does not have a number pad), I could put my favorite channels in a group, making them easier to locate.

I was told that I could not access audio description with the Roku. This was incorrect. The technician said that I would be hearing from someone at Spectrum in about a week to discuss my experience.

The Right Answers

I did not hear from Charter for five weeks. I received an email from Charter's Manager of Accessibility at that time, asking if I would complete a survey about my Roku experience. I agreed and added that I want the ability to go directly to a specific channel and I want audio description.

He sent me a document showing how to access audio description through the Roku. The document also contained information about the Roku's layout, using the on-screen program guide, creating favorite channels, features available in the Spectrum app, and more. If the technician had this document when the Roku was installed, he would have had the correct answers to my questions and I would have had less aggravation.

Spending Time with the Roku

Spectrum provided a Roku Premier+ streaming media player. It is similar to the Apple TV. An HDMI port on my television was used to connect the small Roku box. The box is approximately 5 inches long by 5 inches wide by 1 inch high. The Roku remote has a Back button on the top left and a Home button on the top right. Underneath these buttons is a center button surrounded by four buttons. The four buttons are used to navigate up, down, left, and right. The center button is for making a selection.

Below those buttons are an Instant Replay button on the left and a Star button on the right. The Instant Replay button is for rewinding some on-demand content. The Star button is for accessing options. Below the Instant Replay and Star buttons are Rewind, Play, and Forward buttons. There are more buttons, but Spectrum recommends not using them.

The Roku's speech output is adjustable, but it is nowhere near as good as speech on the Apple TV. You cannot rearrange apps on the home screen as with the Apple TV. I am happy to say that it is relatively easy to turn on audio description. Even though Favorite channels can be selected, it is not possible to move directly to a specific channel.

Since I share my TV with sighted people, when I start to use the Roku I need to switch TV input from the cable box to Roku.

Although I can use the Roku remote to get to the audio guide and get to my favorite channels, several button presses are required. Since my Roku remote does not have a number pad, I cannot quickly jump to a channel.

My Roku has locked up several times. Either it stopped talking or it didn't speak or show anything on the screen. Sighted assistance could not get it to work. We needed to turn off the cable box or the TV to fix the problem.

Conclusion

Although the Roku is a work-around for Spectrum, there is a lot of room for improvement. It is unacceptable that Spectrum is the second largest cable company in the country yet they are unable to provide accessibility through their cable boxes for (former) Time Warner Cable subscribers. According to Spectrum, Time Warner didn't do their part in making the necessary equipment available for users, but Spectrum knew this merger was coming in advance; it didn't happen overnight. Customer support and technicians need considerable training to learn about the accessibility features and how to use and install them. Meanwhile, Comcast and Verizon FIOS have accessible cable boxes where no extra equipment is required.

Related Recommendation: iOS TV Guide App

TV Guide has a free app for iOS that has good accessibility and is useful if you don't have easy access to the guide on your cable box. The app works with iOS 8 and above and there is a watchOS app as well.

The first time you use the app it is necessary to enter information including your name, provider, and email.

There are five tabs at the bottom of the screen: Listings, Watch List, Discover, Videos, and More. At the top of the screen is a Search Box where you can search by channel or program.

Selecting Channels

There is a complete list of which channels you receive through your provider. There are several options including All Channels or Only Favorite channels. Select a favorite channel by double tapping on the channel number in the channel list. Near the top of the next screen, there will be a button to add the channel to your Favorites list.

When going through the listings, the channel name will be followed by which program is currently on. Double tapping on a program will load a new page with program details, an option to add the program to your watch list, and an option to set an alert for that program. When done, activate the Back button in the upper left corner.

The Discover tab has program recommendations. The Videos tab has video recommendations. The More tab has information including your watch list, listings, and settings.

I frequently use this app and find it to be a quick way to find out what is on.

Resources

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — Disability Rights Office

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