Greetings, everyone.
I am the friend of David Goldfield who has been using Verizon Fios text to
speech since last January.
I've had Fios since 2008, but did not realize there were accessibility
features built in until David told me about the voice guided Comcast
system.
Previous to January I had been entering channels using the number pad on
the remote as well as using mute, fast forward/rewind and pause.
When I wanted to record something I did this through the Verizon web page
and asked my sighted husband to locate it for me in the DVR menu when I
wanted to view my recording.
Using text to speech gives me much more independence, but it is hidden in
their menus (like on the iPhone, except that there is no equivalent to
triple click home).
Yes, Martin, you can record and access recordings using Verizon Fios text
to speech (once it is turned on).
This can be done independently by a blind person with instructions. But I
don't always press the keys on the remote firmly enough to activate them.
Text to speech is under main menu; settings; system; accessibility.
Under accessibility there are three options -- text to speech, DVS and
closed captions.
Once an option is turned on, it remains on until turned off.
With text to speech you can press DVR; view recordings.
Arrowing up and down gives a list of all recordings. Movies and
individual program specials are individual entries, while a series is like
a folder with individual recordings under it.
Press select to view, and delete to remove.
Unfortunately this process does not always go smoothly. Sometimes ads pop
up that are not spoken. When I hear silence, I press escape and try
again.
Recordings can be done by going into the full guide; then locating the
channel and program you want to record.
I find it easiest to select the channel before going into the guide, and
to program something on the day it is shown.
Otherwise I have to continually right arrow until I find the program,
unless there is something I'm missing.
You can confirm a recording by going into DVR and selecting "scheduled
recordings" instead of "view recordings."
Now that I've mastered this I record using DVR with text to speech rather
than the Verizon web page.
I like Fios internet and the TV system. I did use Comcast earlier without
accessibility, and liked the channel layout of Verizon. Categories such
as shopping channels, religious channels, etc., are grouped together.
Choice music channels are together and have the highest channel numbers.
I was thinking about switching to Comcast strictly for accesibility, since
my impression from David is that they are very interested and I'm not sure
about Verizon's commitment.
I have two issues with their system, so far!
As I mentioned earlier, there is no equivalent to triple click home. I
confirmed this with a technical support person on the phone today. Thank
you, Martin, for asking questions that encouraged me to do some research.
Next to the 0 they do have an on-off button for closed captions, which I
didn't know.
When the technician told me that I said we could use two more such buttons
-- one for text to speech and one for DVS. My call was recorded, and he
says they take our feedback seriously.
The first time I turned on DVS I thought I could just leave it on all the
time so it would be there when needed. But some channels which I guess do
not have programming on the SAP channel were blank!
My husband would like to turn off text to speech when he is using the TV
alone because he finds it obnoxious; he feels the same about talking GPS.
Sometimes even I would like to turn it off because of my second issue.
When I press pause while watching something, I get feedback suchas:
Paused, Sixty Minutes, elapsed time 00 33 02.
I would like the choice to turn that off if I want to because I obviously
know what I'm watching and can usually tell how far I am through the
program.
But what is even worse is that when I press play (pause/play is a toggle
switch) I get:
Play Sixty Minutes ...
with the same message as before.
This covers any verbal feedback going on live. If I stop in the middle of
a newscast where I don't want to miss anything, I have to rewind once.
My husband says that the short feedback message when pausing or resuming
play is sometimes replaced by the original long message:
Sixty Minutes, season 50, episode 43. recorded date 7 o'clock P.M. July
22.
This message is needed when selecting the program in the first place, but
not every time you pause or play!
I gave that feedback on the call as well, and was told there is no way to
selectively choose what I don't want to hear.
The tech person said that starting soon (I think next month) Verizon will
be featuring new set top boxes on their commercials that allow the user to
speak to the remote.
That would be quicker, I suppose, although I'm not yet an Amazon Echo user
to know how much that really helps.
But does Verizon care about other features?
I am grateful for the independence text to speech gives me, and am not
sure whether I'm wrong to be frustrated.
I guess I'm spoiled by the control VoiceOver gives me on iOS products.
So, Martin, the short answer is that text to speech will do what you need.
I hope this helps, and please feel free to reply if you have questions.
Beverly Wieland
bwieland@xxxxxxxx
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
services.
To unsubscribe from this list, please email
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the
subject line.
To subscribe from another email address, send email to
blind-philly-comp-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word subscribe in the subject
line.
To contact the list administrator, please email
blind-philly-comp-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
