Sky+

Hi. Another feature which would be nice would be the ability to use the "magic tap" to start and stop playback of the sky box. "Magic tap" is where a voice over user can double tap two fingers on the screen to start of stop playback or do other functionality that the developer assigns to it. Perhaps even if the gesture control can't be fixed fully then this would at least allow us to pause the programme quickly.

I don't know if magic tap can be relayed to external devices, think that might be a little bit of wishful thinking, as far as I know magic tap is just for ios itself and can't be used to control external devices. but seriously what's to stop you just reaching for the remote? lol.

The magic tap wouldn't have anything to do with the sky box, it would just simply tell the Sky Plus app to play or pause the box just as the play button does in the app at the moment so I think it's easily possible. Yes someone could reach for the remote, but just as many people like all in one remotes because they don't want to have ot pick up another remote, I would like to easily be able to pause the programme no matter what screen of the app I am on and if I'm already using my phone I'd rather not have to put it down to pick up another device, not to mention trying to find the thing as you know how easy it is for remotes to end up down or under the sofa etc.

Hi, I was just using the sky app and I spotted a button with no text label this means that when VoiceOver encounters it all it says is the word button and doesn't describe what it is. this button can be found if you find the search button then flick to the right.

Wow there is a lot of feedback in there so thank you. I shall attempt to summarise.
Issues:
- Predictive search results not accessible.
- Planner navigation inconsistent and swipe navigation not working.
- Remote is not accessible; direct touch may be a solution to investigate.
- Gesture guide will also need to be fixed.
- When you exit the listings of a channel in TV Guide, the app sends you back to the top of the channel list.
- Inconsistent info about memory remaining on box.
- Can't rename the box.
- Marking and unmarking programmes to keep. Alex can you please clarify where you are referring to here?
Feature requests:
- More settings/functions of the box to be available in the app, including but not limited to the audio description toggle.
- Use of the rotor actions menu for quicker actions on shows in your Planner.
- Re-label the button to change channel in the TV Guide section (I suggest for example "Go to 101 BBC1").
- Implement the table index for easier navigation of the TV Guide.
- Investigate magic tap.
- Siri and spotlight integration.
- Return to Planner rather than Home when exiting show details.
- Implement the Item Chooser method of navigation.
This focuses only on feedback related to this specific app, excluding the conversation about audio description on demand etc.
Thanks for the feedback and hopefully we'll be able to implement fixes in a timely manner, and be able to look at the feature requests too, though do please bare with us.
Keep the feedback coming if anything else occurs to you.

Hi Alex. I just took a look and can't reproduce the unlabelled button you referred to. When I swipe right from Search, I arrive at Promoted Content. Are you on the home screen of the Sky Plus app?

A couple of people have asked about, and kindly offered their time to beta test our apps. At this time I believe we only have a framework in place for internal testers, probably because Sky has a large internal population to work with.
I acknowledge that this is not necessarily true with regards to accessibility though, so I will look into whether this would be possible.
If so I will be sure to post on this site.

Hi, so regarding keeping of programs, I know that it is possible to mark programs to keep so that in the event of your box running low on space they are not automatically deleted, obviously with the large amount of space this is unlikely to be an issue anyway, but at the moment you can only mark programs to keep through use of the remote, although keep is available as a category item.

one thing you forgot to mention from my feedback is can it be made possible for VoiceOver to read a program description without having to go into a programs details? doing this can be very time consuming.
TV planner remote doesn't force me to go into a program to view its description which is one feature I highly value.

regarding the unlabeled button I am struggling to find it again, however if you double tap on the search button and flick past the edit field and the clear text button you will find 3 elements that VoiceOver is unable to read at all, it just clicks as you go over them, eventually you get to the keyboard for inputting your search queery.

Another issue I have noticed is that on the home page and in several other areas of the app to the left of the help and settings button there is another button which VoiceOver announces as dimmed, just that, dimmed, what this means is that firstly the button has no text label, but secondly that it is unavailable for VoiceOver to double tap on, it seems to be the left most element on the screen in app pages, its not the button I spotted before though.

I wasn't aware of some of these issues I am now highlighting, its only because I am now paying attention that I am spotting them.

one thing I have observed with the remote is the play and pause buttons are accessible though its not so easy to get to the remote once watching a program, and the fast forward and rewind buttons are not accessible.

one other thing I dislike with the app is say I delete a program I must go totally back to the homepage then reopen my planner I would like a quick way to get back to the planner or tv guide after deleting something rather than having to go home.

I like the idea for the naming of the button to go to a particular channel, though if your going to name one button for going to the channel what will you name the button to access its schedule, I am just thinking out loud hear, but I wonder from a visual point of view also if the screen is two crowded for sighted users.
I mean at the moment basically you have two buttons for each channel, one for switching to it, and one for accessing its schedule, why not just have the one button, then add something like a menu that can be brought up with tap and hold to do things like access its schedule, add the channel to favorites etc, that way you could just keep the button called bbc1 or whatever, then have a tap and hold menu for other things, alternatively, maybe for VoiceOver users a quick actions menu could be added for things like accessing the schedule or favoriting a channel.

I just think at the moment the sky app is two busy and clunky on its screen for the tv guide for both blind and sighted users, its not modern using two controls for every channel when you have around 999 I am sure there are better ways the screen can be used, two buttons also means more work with scrolling and flicking to search and find what I want and if that's true for me it will be true of sighted users.
I mean for example sky makes no use of 3d touch at the moment on the newer iPhones I would think that would be a very useful technology you could look at to try to add extra menus or lower the amount of screen clutter.

Its amazing how accessibility can slide if attention isn't paid to it, hopefully if itsmonitored on an ongoing basis it won't be such a big job to fix up in the future.

Apologies Alex, yes I had forgotten that.
Regarding the three elements that VoiceOver can't read when you open a search, these are just the spots where the predictive search results appear, which we have already acknowledged as inaccessible above.
The button to the left at the top that you refer to as being unlabelled and dimmed should I believe be the Photos button, which allows you to cast your photos to the box. Let me get back to you.
Thanks for the other suggestions re the TV Guide.

OK thanks for that one, should I find that other unlabeled button again I will be sure to let you know how to find it.
also I thought of more feedback, I am not sure if this is possible, I wonder if it could be made possible for the app to show your viewing card number, I have needed this in the past when checking remote record settings etc, and at the moment to get it I must open my box, pull the card out, then take a photo of the card with my phone and have a scanning app called knfb reader try to read me the number, not everyone has this app as it is very expensive, and again not everyone has access to sighted people to read things.
I also needed my viewing card number when having someone change my default pin which obviously I would have liked to be able to do myself through the app, as well as turn it off for pre watershed programs.

one other thought I have just had, is that if my box crashes and I have to unplug to restart it, often its a case of me just guessing when the box is powered up and hoping it will do something, usually I just end up pressing the sky button followed by down and return on the cursor pad hoping that eventually I can get a channel to start talking, I wonder if the box restart process could be improved to help in these kind of situations, as I always really worry if I have to restart the box that I will end up in some situation and have to wait for someone sighted to help with fixing it.

I have a question, I know your probably going to suggest I should contact sky and it is probably a bit cheeky of me to ask seeing as your interested in accessibility, but I wonder if you might have an idea of a solution to the following problem.

I have remote record set up on one box in my house, but there are to in the house. the remote record works completely fine when my iPhone is on my home wifi network, but as soon as I go abroad for example or even just away from home wifi I am unable to interact with my box at all.
I did try reading the article on fixing problems with remote record and googling around but I couldn't find anyone with the same problem, I assume its probably some ports need to forward on my router, if this is the case, I think the article on fixing problems with remote record needs updating.
I am signed into the app with my sky id,

actually I did find an accessibility issue relating to signing into the sky website, I couldn't remember my password for ages and after a few guesses a captcha was presented to me, this means text in a picture and you have to copy it into a text box to verify you are human, however no audio captcha was offered, luckily I do have some tools and sighted people that can help in these kind of situations, but not everyone will have these, an audio captcha does need adding wherever these are used.

Hi. If you install the sky service app which is completely accessible, then go to sky settings and then remote record you can change your remote record settings and you can see your viewing card number. It works great. The other thing I like about the app is if you choose to contact Sky through the app, it will tell you how many minutes you have to wait on the phone before it is answered.

The dimmed button is to the left of the photo button. The photo button works as expected.

so would this help with why I can't remote record outside the house?

aah I wonder if maybe that's where I have been going wrong, I wasn't trying to schedule a recording I wanted to check my planner to see if I had particular recordings scheduled and stop some others. when I pressed on planner and was told no sky box was found I assume d that meant remote record wasn't working, I assumed I would be able to at least access my planner remotely, as the message gave no indication that this was only possible over wifi.

I just noticed the home button is read twice on screen buy VoiceOver, so you are read home button once, then if you flick to the right VoiceOver reads you another home button.

In that case it sounds like yours is working as it should as I get exactly the same when I'm away from home. You will also find that if you connect to Wi-Fi and someone else is home and they have a sky plus box, your app will ask if you want to connect to that box and you will be able to see their planner and set programs to record.

Thanks Peter, what you said is exactly the case. When you are not connected to the same wifi network, you cannot view the Planner. You can though send a command to the box to record a show.
The Service app is a great place to start for technical queries. Remember also we have dedicated accessibility teams in our call centres if you need to call, who can help you too.
I need to check about the dimmed button, it may be nothing at all.
I am though seeing some inconsistency with these buttons at the top sometimes not appearing, so will report that. I also see the double instance of the home button, good spot.
I will report the lack of an audio captcha too.

Unfortunately I have found your accessibility team less than helpful I have been trying to give feedback for years on how to improve the app, and each time I was told we will take your feedback on board but it wasn't acted on.
My last written communication I only received a two line response to some very detailed feedback thanking me, and the last verbal communication I had I spent a good half an hour on the phone to someone from the accessibility team with lots of verbal assurances that my feedback was very interesting and important but no improvements were made, and every time I mentioned joining applevis.
Your engagement is the most positive response I have ever scene from sky.
Before now it seemed to me that sky considered developing the sky talker was enough and even that hasn't been updated in years, so that's why I really welcome your engagement hear.

Will you see if there is anything that can be done to improve the sky box startup process? did you see my comments above earlier about that? if not I can repost.

Hi Alex. Firstly, I apologise if you feel you have not received the response you hoped for at times in the past. The accessibility team work very hard, and I have no doubt that they were genuinely interested in your feedback and did pass it on, but unfortunately the actions you hoped for did not take place at that time.
We are certainly listening now, though do please bare with us, as all the changes and improvements we would like to see will take time. Accessibility is definitely on the agenda now and we are looking at our processes and procedures.
Regarding the box start up, I honestly don't know at this point if this can be addressed, but I will pass it on and have a think about possible solutions.
For technical support queries in the meantime, I would still encourage you to contact the accessibility team, who will do their utmost to assist you and fix the issue.

I'm thankful that the Sky Plus app is a lot more accessible than it used to be. Apart from above comments, from other posters, which I concur with, when I use the app to control my Sky box and select the Remote button, I notice that there is a button at the end, for providing help with gestures. When I tap on this, nothing is read. Are particular gestures possible with the app and, if so, what are they and how do they work?

I know I already commented about toggling audio description within the app but I was thinking about other digital and red button functions such as, when watching football on BBC for example, people can change the audio to the radio commentary with the remote. This kind of function would be really great in the app as I cannot do this with the remote unaided by sight. Thanks again Sky!

Hi, I was thinking about the box startup idea,
Maybe a feature could be added so the box plays a sound through the tv when its fully started up,
for me the problem is that I don't know when its ready, but also I don't know what to do when its actually powered up, I mean a reliable way to get it back into playing channels, what actually happens after a box restarts, where do you land once its rebooted. At the moment I literally am just pressing buttons and hoping something will happen, I have never ended up in a situation yet I couldn't get out of, but there is always a first time, and sometimes I have had to unplug and restart the box several times just hoping something will happen. Maybe this is something the app can help out with, as obviously its not ideal me just guessing an stumbling around in the dark hoping.
I suppose another solution might be to have the box start playing the last channel you were on automatically.

Of course I fully appreciate all these changes will take time, the fact your on applevis at all speaks volumes, I wish others like channel 5 would follow your example, it does feel like you are listening now and I await changes with great interest though of course these will all take time so I don't expect things to change over night.

One other thing I would really like to see is a way to undelete programs from the app, I know this is possible with the remote, but it isn't with the app, so it means if I delete a program then decide actually I want it back I have to ask for sighted help.

Hi Charlie. Yes unfortunately both this gesture guide and the remote itself are currently inaccessible with VoiceOver. It is something we are aware of and hope to address.

Hi Lorna. Thanks for the suggestion, I completely understand. I'm not sure how possible or easy it is for the team to do, but more box functionality is something I have noted on the wishlist anyway. The app isn't necessarily designed to be a full remote control replacement, but I do understand why that would be more useful in this case.

Yes it's certainly something to think about. Thanks Alex.

Why scrawling up the TV on the skybox yesterday when I got to an audio descriptive sure it is indeed beat did indicate that the show was indeed audio description my query would be can this be put onto the app that when I'm in the sky movies scrawling down that there would be a beep to indicate that this sure would indeed be another audio descriptive sure otherwise I would have to go into every movie synopsis and scroll down to see if it is not your descriptive sure thank you

Can anyone tell me how to bring up the full days listings for a channel from within the TV Guide? On the iPhone app, as you swipe down the list of channels you see one button to switch to that channel then the next one states the next three programmes on and if you double tap it you get the days listings. on the ipad version the next three programmes all seem to be separate buttons and pressing on them brings up details for that specific programme so I can't seem to get to the full days listings. Not sure if this is a usability issue or I'm missing something obvious.

Hi Peter. Thanks for bringing this to attention. For sighted users, the horizontal channels listings continue to scroll to the right, beyond the next three shows you are seeing on screen. With VoiceOver switched on, it appears the horizontal scrolling is not working, either by swiping right or with three finger page navigation.
For sighted users, the entire page scrolls right, and not just the listings for that individual channel, so the three finger horizontal page navigation strikes me as the more likely outcome if we can get it fixed.
If you would like to see if you can find a way to scroll the page horizontally please let me know, as I could not do so with VoiceOver active.

Hi, I am not sure if this is anything sky can sort out,
but I am wondering is it possible for sky to look into why not all transmissions of channels carry audio description for the same programs broadcast at exactly the same time?
so for example I am in Norfolk, and I have to make a point of recording London broadcasts of channels which often means a lot of scrolling for me in the tv guide and looking on skys website to try and find the actual correct channel numbers I need to dial into the remote or scroll to find in the tv guide.
For example I was watching a channel4 program tonight called the job interview and I realized that I had set my box to channel 104 which was broadcasting the undescribed version of the exact same program, to pick it up I had to change channel to 974, this meant I had to do a lot of messing around to actually find out what the correct version of channel 4 was I needed to be on, and that with all my hunting I wasted around 10 minutes before I found the correct number. In the end I just set the program to record from channel4 +1 as this doesn't seem to suffer with this issue, but all my messing around during the show was a real headache, and it wasn't worth me continuing to watch after all my messing around, I thought it better to record then watch back later.
This is extremely frustrating and I have missed quite a few described shows by recording the wrong channel, as no catchup services apart from iPlayer carry audio description yet, so if I miss the tv broadcast with description its either take the undescribed version or nothing, though channel 4 are hoping to offer description next year on demand, you get my point its a problem.
This is also an issue with bbc channels where regional broadcasts don't carry description. I believe its a problem with ITV. Interestingly this issue isn't a problem with channel4 +1, I don't understand especially when both London and regional channels are in sync sky can't simply force all channels to broadcast description regardless of what version is being watched.

But think of it this way how would your sighted users like it if they had to hunt through there tv guides just to get a particular version of a tv program that had a picture? I don't think they would be amused.

If sky can't do anything directly about the broadcasts themselves could some kind of accessibility option be added so that where audio description is broadcast on one channel but not on the regional version of a channel the audio described version can be recorded from the correct channel, maybe a prompt if you select to record from the undescribed channel asking if you want the version carrying audio description.

Hi Alex. Apologies for the delay in responding. I've asked about this and am told that it does not look to be a Sky issue. Sky always broadcast the AD track where one is provided, so if the regional channel broadcast includes AD, then it would be broadcast on Sky. Have you tried as yet to contact the broadcaster in question themselves?
Thanks

Hi,
thanks for your reply, in relation to the issue with regional channels not carrying description I was in touch with RNIB about accessibility issues to do with tv some time ago and I raised this with them,
please see there response as it looks very different to what you have been told. Should you wish to talk to rnib about this I can pass the email address of the person I was in touch with there.

"In relation to your issue with the local versions of TV programmes not carrying audio description but it being on the London region this is an issue specific
to Sky and Virgin. For Freeview the audio description and the programme sound is mixed at the box, receiver mix TV, so any region can have the AD delivered
for it no matter where you are in the country.
For Sky and Virgin the programme sound and the audio description has to be mixed prior to delivery to the box, called broadcast mix. With broadcast mix
Satellite and cable companies can only then deliver this mix to one region. When AD started they decided that this would be to the London region. This
Is why you need to watch on BBC London.
For ITV you are ok in England but if you were to watch ITV Scotland, NI or Wales there they have to then change to ITV England for the same reason.
So I hear your frustration, we have to explain this to users, but sadly there isn’t a solution with the current TV equipment and broadcast set up we have
in the UK."

as you can see very different to what you have been told, and this is why I think a solution needs to be found to allow the app to offer the option to record from the correct channel automatically when description is activated. its so easy to select to record from the wrong channel when your not concentrating, and quite frankly in 2016 why should I as a user just because of my disability have to jump through hoops just to get around skys technical limitations there must be a solution that can be implemented on the app side and tv side so that I don't have to worry about the technical limitations of the current setup. Again your sighted users wouldn't tolerate a similar issue so why should blind and visually impaired customers? I am just asking the question here I do realize a solution might take time to work on, but come on in 2016 this should have been resolved a long time ago.
if I am at a sighted users house it can be a nightmare saying can you record that with description, then having to explain why they must record from a specific channel and sometimes they do sometimes they don't.

I've noticed this issue before as well. The response makes sense as if I record something on my freeview box I can watch it back and switch AD on or off at will whereas if recording on sky then the recording will be in whatever state the AD option is set to prior to record and that's it. It can be frustrating but as long as there's a way around it then that's fine. You might already know this but the way to spot it is this... If AD is mentioned at the end of the programme description probably with WS and S Then AD is definitely on the freeview broadcast, but one flick right is where it counts, if it says season 1, episode 4, length 30 minutes etc and then doesn't mention AD here then that's where there's no AD on the sky broadcast and its time to switch to freeview or ITV England or whatever the plan B is. Annoying yes but I think there are more pressing issues discussed above personally, with getting a sky go app on the apple tv at the top of my wish list.

in my case there isn't a plan b option, the point is I have to remember to record off particular channels just for the description, and my point is we shouldn't have to, we should just be able to select channel 4 for example, which is only a few flicks right near the top of the guide, set something to record and know ok we will be getting the description, instead of which now I have to scroll the tv guide right to the end just to hunt for the particular channel I actually need, and that's forgetting of course having to look up the number in the first place and assuming I remember.
with respect to the above commenter I see this and general sky app accessibility as a bit more important than something relating to the apple tv as I certainly don't have one and I suspect a lot of other VI users don't, actually unless say your part of a family household I have never really scene the point of an apple tv though of course your entitled to your opinion. I mean really what does an apple tv do in terms of receiving content that you can't do on an alternative device. though as I said above I respect your viewpoint.

Of course, you see the points that effect you more and I'll see the points that effect me more that's life. But you miss my point... Its a pain on the backside having to go down to the nine hundreds to record something that should be on page one and I agree with that frustration. But my point is its still possible and accessible, whereas the gesture guide is totally inaccessible and the sky go app on the apple tv doesn't exist As yet. So there is still a way around your frustration whereas these other examples I've stated are brick walls at the moment hence I'd personally rate them above the channel select to record issue. But hey that's why we are here, to highlight these issues to sky and on this thread alone there are some fine suggestions so hopefully in time the guys at sky can fix them all in a future update. Plenty of people on here have an apple tv and its a great device. What you're maybe not aware of is its currently not possible to mirror the sky go app on the apple tv, so for example it's not practical to have multiple people crowded around one iPhone when I visit my sister's. So plugging an apple tv in when away from home would be far more convenient. :)

One good solution for ensuring you record on the audio described channels only is to make use of the favourites feature from within the Sky Plus app. Go to help and setting, then to favourites and you can choose which channels you want on the tv guide and reorder them however you wish. It's easy to use but if I get chance I'll perhaps put some instructions on here. I'd do a podcast (my first) but it sounds like Sky may get round to making improvements to the app soon. One other useful thing this work around helps with, is when you want to record standard definition instead of HD which many of my channels are HD by default now. If a sighted person isn't watching the programme I record in SD. It would be good if the app would ask whether you want standard or high definition as most freeview recorders do.

Perfect suggestion Peter, two work arounds for the same issue :)

favorites are a solution though not ideal, I mean lets say your a new ios user and are just getting to grips with the app, you just want things to work, not the case for me but even so, I feel this is letting sky off the hook, basically its still up to us to jump through hoops of making sure we access the correct channel version etc, there must be a more seemless way that sky can solve the issue. though I do appreciate the suggestion, I just feel on principal we shouldn't have to use favorites or other work arounds to get past this issue, I should be able to just navigate the tv guide in any way I see fit and set things to record. I mean look at it this way if you say favorites are a solution, then sky could turn round and say well you have favorites, therefor we don't need to improve access to the tv guide you can just use favorites to avoid all your scrolling issues, now that again wouldn't be an ideal solution.

I don't think anybody is suggesting that Sky should be let off and my suggestion is just a workaround until they can fix it. Sky have voluntarily come onto this site to reach out to users so I think perhaps we need to stick to providing constructive feedback and move on from what has gone on in the past and give them the benefit of the doubt. none of the comments from Sky since they joined the forum have implied that they are not listening to your feedback so give them time and be patient. It may be that the problem with audio description is it their fault but I guess between as we need to try and find out the truth as to what the problem is. Until all regional variations have audio description, the only two solutions I can come up with would be for sky to Iver Come up with a group of TV listings that prioritise audio described channels, perhaps using the same method they use for changing peoples lineups using postcode or if it's a business, but I'm guessing that would also have its licensing issues. another solution, could be for sky to allow us to download a special version of the app which already has all of the audio described channels as a favourite line up. These arent perfect and I realise it needs to be fixed. These are just ideas and I already know what the downfalls of them are. I guess I'm just trying to work it out in my head as I'm typing this.

Oh yes I agree sky are listening and they should be commended for that.
Personally I wouldn't want to see a special version of the app or anything, I would like to see some kind of inapp prompt if its not possible to have all regional variants broadcast description, and the prompt should say you have selected to record a show from this channel, but description is carried on this one for this particular show, do you want to record from it. anyway hopefully sky can come up with some sort of solution. and maybe even put pressure on virgin to adopt something similar, as this really shouldn't be an issue with any content provider in 2016.

Hello again. We went back and consulted further with the technology specialists on the issue of audio description on regional channels.
The comparison of the AD capabilities of Sky with Freeview is not correct. The Sky DTH / satellite platform, with its support for Broadcast Mix AD, is able to support multiple regional versions of channels with AD just as well as a platform which supports Receiver Mix AD such as Freeview. However Sky has no power to force the BBC, ITV or any other broadcaster to add an AD track to any particular channel or channels on satellite, whether regional versions or otherwise, but it is something any broadcaster can do by arranging for the programme feed with AD to be prepared and supplied to their broadcast centre and broadcasting the additional track. Sky’s role is simply to configure the broadcast channel to the individual broadcaster’s instructions and to carry any AD data the broadcaster supplies in the Sky Guide.
We would echo the above commenter in pointing to the Sky + App which includes the option to set up “Favourite channels”. If versions of channels which include an AD service are added to “Favourites” through the “Settings” function, this should make it easier for any user to record from channel versions which have the AD track.
I hope this helps.

Hi. I'm not sure if Sky want any feedback regarding the apps with the IOS10 public betas but in case it helps, for the Sky Plus app I actually have some positive news. The issue of Voice Over jumping back to the top in the TV guide when you go from programme information back to the channels day listing seems to have been fixed. This issue has been with many apps since IOS8 I believe and it has also been fixed in those apps. A voice over bug with Sky go seems to have appeared in which when you have a list of episodes up for a programme, on the IPhone Voice Over just says "series" instead of the programme name and on the Ipad it does the same but also says "series" before the watch and download buttons for each episode.
There is also a non-accessibility related bug in IOS10 public beta 1 & 2 in which Sky Go says all videos are unavailable.
Of course I realise IOS10 is a beta so I'm not complaining and just making you aware. If you'd still like feedback of Sky apps on IOS10 betas just let me know.
No pressure but if there is any likely timescale for us to see the improvements brought about by our feedback I'd be interested to know. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Peter. I'll pass that on. Regarding Sky Go, that issue has emerged in the latest version of the app, as opposed to iOS10 as far as I can tell. It is occurring in iOS9 as well. I am going to post about this in the other thread now.

Hi. Just a quick note to let you know that unlike with traditional Sky+, on Sky Q the audio description can be toggled on and off on recordings, irrespective of whether it was on or off at the time of recording. I mention this as this restriction on Sky+ was mentioned earlier in this thread.

That's good to hear. If I've understood SkyQ functionality correctly would that then mean that it's possible to stream the recording from the box which contain AD to other devices? If so that sounds like a part way solution to us also being able to access AD via the recordings on our box in a similar way to how sighted users can make use of on demand content. Could I therefore kindly ask that Sky consider as a reasonable adjustment, giving users who are affected by the limitation of no AD on on-demand content use of SkyQ at no additional cost . Certainly in my case, living alone, I don't think there are many other benefits to skyQ to which I'd benefit so justifying the additional cost wouldn't make sense but being able to view the content I've recorded with SkyQ on other devices, including the AD track, would bring us somewhat closer to a similar experience to sighted users. An alternative solution could be a free upgrade to large capacity boxes. I suggest that as at the moment, due to not being able to fully take advantage of on-demand content due to no AD, I really only watch recorded content. I have the family and movies pack and due to having to record instead of using on demand my box can fill up quickly. A larger capacity box would mean we can keep recorded content with AD for longer. I hope that makes sense and seems like a reasonable solution, especially as you've indicated that the lack of AD on on-demand content may not be resolved any time soon.

Hi Peter. I'm not sure that the AD streams to the Sky Q app, I shall have to come back to you on that.
Thanks.

Hi Saqib. Audio description is available in Sky Cinema, with a large percentage of our movies offering audio description. However, just like with our other content, audio description is currently only available on the broadcast channels, and not in on demand downloads. If you wish to store movies to watch later, then your best bet is to record them, which can be done using the Sky+ app. Hope that helps.

Hi, just wondering is there any news on how accessibility improvements are coming along in sky? been quite a while since we heard anything. I took a look at sky go briefly before deciding that most channels I would want to watch are not available through it for some reason and this seems like it needs quite a bit of accessibility polish which I won't go into on this entry as this is for the sky plus app specifically.
also just a thought, we don't have any contact details for anyone dealing with accessibility at sky apart from the accessibility department who I haven't had great experiences with before, it would be nice if we had specific contact details for someone like an email address.