Media and Entertainment Company Sky Q to Introduce Voice Guidance

April 06, 2021

Media and entertainment company Sky Q is introducing Voice Guidance this month – a new feature that will make navigating the platform’s TV guide, menus, Show Centres, collections, and on-screen messages much easier for those with visual impairments.

Working in tandem with Sky Q’s Voice Control and existing accessibility features, Voice Guidance has been designed to make Sky Q will even more accessible.

To start using it, the user must simply say “Voice Guidance On” or “Voice Guidance Off” into the Sky Q voice remote, or they can find it in settings.

The user will hear spoken descriptions of the menu they are currently navigating, a description of the option they are hovering over or have selected, and instructions for how to easily get to favourite shows and movies.

David Clarke, Director of Services at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), commented: “Voice Guidance is an excellent feature that will greatly enhance the accessibility of Sky Q for blind and partially sighted people.”

Kyran O’Mahoney, National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) Chief Technology Officer said that Sky’s continued focus on accessibility is welcome.

“The new Voice Guidance feature will make a real difference for users. Being able to access and browse content without the help of others is a huge step forward,” he said.

Fraser Stirling, Group Chief Product Officer, Sky, said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to making Sky Q even more accessible, we’re proud to have gone further than just having Voice Guidance for the TV Guide, by adding it to other menus and show centres as well.”

Voice Guidance joins a range of features on Sky Q that are designed to give visually impaired and hard-of-hearing customers greater independence, including High Contrast Mode – which highlights all entertainment with Audio Description available, subtitles – which can be requested via a Sky Q voice remote; a British Sign Language zone – on-demand content and entertainment for those who are hard of hearing; and an ‘accessibility’ remote, which has tactile points, larger graphics, high visibility buttons, shortcuts for subtitles and audio description, as well as an easy grip design – designed to make it easier for those who have limited vision or dexterity.

Alongside the new Voice Guidance feature, Sky Q is also rolling out more improvements to its Voice Control – as Disney+ content will now appear in voice and text searches, making it even easier to navigate and search for your favourite entertainment.

More information on Sky Q’s accessibility features can be found on its website.

Source: Thiis