The nonsense of trying to access live TV with audio description in the UK...

Well, there's bbc IPlayer, it has an audio described section, it's free.

There's the vergin tv app that is a bit clunky but does have some audio described stuff.

That's all I can think of for now.

There was an IPlayer thing made by the RNIB once, for what it was, it was actually alright, clunky yes but it worked, every channel was spoken and I believe you could turn on and off audio description.

I just mostly use audiovault.net and will probably just use a basic LG TV when I move out.

I have Sky Q and that box is about 90% accessible. Most menus talk. However, 3rd party apps do not have AD on the sky Q box. Apparently, about 2 years ago Sky told me they were hoping to firstly make the parts of the Sky Q box inaccessible work and then get 3rd party apps to also work. Sadly, Sky glass and Sky stream has come along and Sky Q is now probably a dying platform. As you say not great. Would be interested to see if people in other countries like the US do have a complete service. It maybe a worldwide thing.

If I literaly had nothing else to do I would write and maintain an 'Accessible TV and Movie' guide for BVPs in the UK. It is, IMO, that complicated - it would take months to do and ages to keep up to date
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It is great, there is so much choice, but as usual, BVPs can't just live our lives, we have to become Assistive Technology specialist!

For what it is worth, I've given up on live TV. I can't think of anyting I wanted to watch I couldn't - maybe an election debate last week. So that is the good part of inaccessibility there!

If I was bothered, I'd go for EE TV, but I already have everything else they sell I think!

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Research:

After doing some google sleuthing on the interwebs, I found some articles that may be of some interest to you and anyone in the UK area. It is information on certain programs and services that cater to Audio Descriptive content, or at the very least, that is their claim.

Streamers:

Unfortunately if you want any kind of satisfactory television experience, there really is no, universal, way to go. Not yet. There is a combination of streaming services that can give you a bit of what you want, meaning not just audio described content, but live audio described content. Some of these are:
1. Netflix
2. Hulu Plus Live
3. Apple TV Live
4. Disney Plus
5. Prime Video
6. Paramount Plus

Resources:

The following links are what I found in my admittedly brief research. I hope you find it useful.
- BBC.co.uk
GuideDogs.org.uk
BBC.com
Business.Scope.org.uk

**Edit**
I apparently fail at Mark Down. . . 😳

It realy is very complicated. We have BBC 1 with AD, but I think it is BBC 1 London. That might be the HD one or not. It is either 101 on Sky or 901. on Virgin it might be something else.

On the BBC iPlayer, you can watch the latest episode of a show with AD, but not next week#s, even if it is on the iPlayer and available to stream.

Netflix is about the only service that does it properly. For Disney+ I have to look on a US website to get a list of shows with AD.

I can buy a film on Amazon that says it has AD, but then I can't watch it wiht AD. And it goes on like this, on and on.

I just steal AD titles from the Internet now and don't worry about it.

I had to edit my above post multiple times, as I fail at formatting it seems. Anyway, regardless of what you folks may think, it is not much better over here. I pretty much watch new stuff via a certain website that we all know about, but like someone's ugly step cousin, noone will talk about.

Older shows I can sometimes find on Prime Video.

Mostly however, I have lost interest in television. I still enjoy an occasional movie, but would rather read books then watch television. 🤷

I think Hulu Plus Live might be good for you all, and you can watch Hulu on a rediculous amount of devices, including Xbox (Ollie, I'm pointing at you)

if I had a TV. I wonder if the Apple TV works with only a soundbar plugged into it?

I do have a TV, in my dining room, leening up against the wall. I suppose I could see if it still works!

I apparently fail at context. I know you said "Live television". I swear it is in you're original post. I was thinking since both AppleTV (the app/service, not the damned box) has Live television, and Hulu Plus Live has "Live television", and both claim to have AD for their live service, well I thought that while it was not the end all be all solution, it would at least be a start. 🤷🙂

Hi All,
You usually can't watch a complete series or boxset through the iPlayer app with audio description, however you can watch a complete series or boxset through the BBC website on any device. I did this for line of duty a few years ago. The most recent series at the time was the only series available through the iPlayer app, but the rest of it was available audio described through the BBC website. I uninstalled the iPlayer app off my phone and just watched the entire thing through the website. The last series sucked by the way. Ian was so not the head of the operation. Maybe that wasn't the last series by now but, oh well. Sorry but just had to get that out there! ITV only seems to have audio description available on Android and nothing else! I mean what kind of crap is that? They should at least have catch-up on all their apps. Channel five I don't know about, and I know channel four has audio description on their on-demand app. But yes, audio description is extremely fragmented. Glad I hardly ever watch TV because I would constantly be extremely disappointed if I did. There have been a couple of things I've wanted to watch, but it didn't have AD so I thought forget that then.

We discussed most of this before, EE Tv really is your only option at this point, it's the most accessible way of streaming live TV with AD.

The only other potential is, if you've got a Sky dish.

When my Sky contract ended, I binned my old Sky box and put the dual cable from the Sky dish into my Samsung TV.
This allowed me to have Freesat for zero pennies, complete with audio description on the live broadcasts.

The Samsung TV was great with it's spoken navigation and I used it for the live Freesat, changing to my Apple TV box when I wanted to stream Netflix or whatever, due to it's class leading compatibility.

It is awfully complicated, though in saying this I know I run the risk of Ollie's agreeing with me again - a risk he would rather avoid as he has intimated elsewhere. Personally, I find that a combo of skyQ (nbot dead yet), audiovault and iPlayer generally meet my needs, though it is frustrating that you don't get the on demand content audiodescribed. SkyQ will give you audiodescription if you record the live programme to the box, but not if you download it. that's annoying when sighted Mrs Bingo and myself want to watch a box set together.

Which election debate, exactly, was worth watching? I've seen three of the four (I missed the one that wasn't a debate but two separate goings over by the not altogether able beth rigby). They all showcased the talents of party spin doctors, excelling in their mediocrity. election campaigns used to be far more informative without them. bring back the days of 2005 and earlier, I say. Waht a shame there isn't a user called Nick who hasn't already made this point as it would have enabled me to round out my contribution with perhaps the most famous of utterances from our election debates: I agree with Nick.

This is what I use when I feel an itch to watch a film. Netflix, when I want Stand-up comedy or Anime. I know, weird mix, but there ya go.

And Bingo, don't, even, get me started on the rediculousness of political debates. We may be a sea apart, but I bet the idiocrocy is a global epidemic.

Like COVID. . . 😷

Audio Vault is great. I have no guilt whatsover when I use it. I'd be hapy to buy stuff AD, but it is next to impossible.

The BBC drive me mad, they have this amazing A-Z of AD titles on iPlayer, but you can't watch them on it! It is bonkers - switch to Safari on the same iPad, go to iPlayer and you can watch them. But you have to delete iPlayer the app, otherwise it opens that and you get no AD! Roar!

If you go with Sky Stream, be prepared for a frustrating experience with the hardware puck.

You might be okay if you don't need the screen reader, otherwise you're going to end up spending half your life waiting between actions, that's if you can even get the screen reader to work in the first place.
I had to send my first box back as it just wouldn't work with the speech enabled.

It really is the worst piece of technology I've had the displeasure to deal with in my 20 years of sight loss.

As a side note, I've not had any problems with the Now channels through EE TV, they all work fine, with associated AD tracks.

You also get Netflix as part of the package with EE, the same as Sky, but cheaper.

They tried to flog me Sky stream last year when they messed up my SkyQ box by giving me the wrong information. This was something they couldn't fix for weeks and weeks, entirely of their own making. Blimey, am I glad I said I didn't want anything to do with sky stream! When I moved house earlier this year they tried again - if you take Sky stream, sir, you'll not have to wait for the engineer to come over and install your dish...you could have Sky a whole 24 hours before the engineer appointment we've booked for you! again, I resisted. Perhaps that's why, when the engineer did visit, he moaned about the route he would have to take the cables. Can't see why. It was very straightforward, although it took him perhaps 10 minutes longer than it would have done had our roof been at a slightly different angle. what a shame they did not think of such matters when the property was built 70 years ago! Seriously, to be fair to Sky they do at least have some nice folk working in accessibility and they do eventually manage to achieve things. I get the sense that quite often they're met with a degree of resistance. I'm sure Sky Stream will get there, but it seems a long way off at the moment.

I thought it was all wired now. A friend of mine has Q - she says it is the best to. The other one, Glass I think it is called, is not accessible at all.

Q is definitely better than Plus, though Plus did get reasonably accessible in the end. It just took quite some time. there was that interesting situation, between about 2012 and 2018 I think, where if you wanted an accessible Sky Plus experience you were far better off using an app called TV Planner Remote for sky. Given that was put together by a third party developer, it could do a hell of a lot with the sky Plus box. The official app caught up eventually. Q is ahead of where Sky Plus ever was, though as others have said, it won't talk if you're trying to watch Prime, or YOutube or that sort of thing. Mrs Bingo has signed ours into her own accounts as she has her own in-built screen reader - her eyes.

I must admit, I haven't done any digging when it comes to other accessible solutions. This is because I'm well immersed in the sky ecosystem and, broadly speaking, I'm very happy with what it gives me. If I didn't really like sport, I might be looking elsewhere. The upshot is I don't know much about EE Tv and so on. Perhaps it's something about which I should be more curious.

I'm keen to hear how it goes. I didn't bother with EE TV in the end, not enough interest here. But if I could get one thing that did all my TV needs well, I might.

Hi,

I completely understand your frustration. It seems like both sides of the Atlantic are grappling with similar issues when it comes to accessibility and cost for visually impaired individuals.

In the US, the situation isn’t much better. For example, Hulu is somewhat accessible on my Samsung TV—it works, but not perfectly. Hulu originals offer audio description, but the live TV service falls short, with very limited to no audio description options. Plus, everything here is getting expensive as well, adding to the frustration.

We’re all dealing with the same fragmented and inconsistent accessibility features across different platforms. It’s disheartening that we need multiple devices and subscriptions just to get the same access that sighted folks have at a lower cost.

I hope that TV networks and streaming services worldwide will soon prioritize and improve accessibility for us. It’s high time they realize the importance of a consistent and comprehensive screen reader interface, along with ample audio description options.

Cheers,
Roman

Am I right in thinking that Sky Atlantic does include Audio Description at the time of broadcast?

I've been trying to find a way to watch some of the HBO shows on streaming services but as far as I can tell no one has any AD for them. I even tried looking at the Blu rays (remember them?) but I don't think they have AD either. Which is totally nuts considering they bothered to record them for the live broadcasts. I was really hoping to watch House of the Dragon, Succession and the Last of Us. In particular, considering how accessible the last of us games are, it's ridiculous that you can't watch the TV show if you need AD.

I was a Sky subscriber for many years but honestly they aren't a company I would choose to deal with again in a hurry. The only live TV I watch these days is the news in the morning and honestly I suspect my life would be better without that too.

Thanks, Ollie - that sounds like a pain. I use a Fire TV Cube not Apple TV but maybe it's also possible there. I'll have a look sometime and see. I just don't understand why it has to be so hard. I literally want to give them my money. I think it's all very well for older stuff with no AD, but it's literally right there.

I've got to a certain age where I prefer to let a series run its course and then watch it all at the end. That way I have a chance of remembering what has happened from one episode to the other. But I do get your point.

I've noticed an irritating thing on iPlayer. They released the whole series of the Outlaws on iPlayer but are drip-feeding it on the TV weekly. But only the first episode on iPlayer has AD, then they seem to update it each week presumably when the next episode is shown live. And I think I've seen this with other shows so guess it's normal on the BBC. Maybe I can't complain too much as I do get a discounted license but doesn't stop me complaining anyway.

The 'excuse' I heard was that they are literally recording it off the TV to then put it online with AD. Sounds mental I know, but they said it was something to do with them having done it for so long!

Again, sounds mental.

Wow, that is crazy. I never would have thought the BBC would go down that road.

I'm not a huge watcher of tv with AD but that just seams complicated, surely there's an easier way of doing it?

You know, it's odd, blindness tehc and the way blindness stuff is shown to us is quite old, there's this with the BBC, then the talking radios and so on. I know we have AI now and there's tech being invented all the time but I just feel like we're x amount of years behind everyone else for some reason, maybe that's just me.

We've recently had to remove a post containing a link to a website offering unauthorized downloads of TV shows and movies. This serves as a reminder that sharing such links or discussing methods to obtain copyrighted content illegally is strictly against our community guidelines.

While we understand the desire for accessible entertainment, we cannot condone or support piracy in any form. This policy is crucial for our community due to legal implications (as sharing copyrighted material without permission is illegal and could put individuals and AppleVis at risk) and ethical considerations (as a community that advocates for accessibility, we should support content creators and the entertainment industry in their efforts to make media more inclusive).

Instead of seeking unauthorized sources, we encourage our members to:

• Use legal streaming services that offer audio description
• Advocate for better accessibility in mainstream media platforms
• Share information about accessible media options within legal boundaries

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in maintaining a responsible and law-abiding community.

I've paid for this twice now. Both times I wasn't able to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with AD.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is audio described, in english, in the USA.

I ask you, what's a girl to do?

I did email them, several times - I got some sort of autoresponder rubbish back both times.

Blimey, reading this thread has made me realise how little televisual entertainment, beyond sport, I tend to watch these days! Used to drink it in - Monday nights were emmerdale, Eastenders and a double period of Corrie, for example. I really should watch more on demand stuff like what you fellahs are talking about. I'll be tuned in to Rishi v Keir tonight as they compete to be the weakest of the weak again.

Olly, how's your stream going? Have you received it yet? I'm interested to see how you get on with that. How the devil did you get £22.00 a month for sky, you jammy so-and-so? I sincerely hope your subscription doesn't include the sports channelse. If it does, I'll have something to say about it! I pay a good deal more than that, albeit I do get the sports channels, movie channels and BT Sport on top. Have to have the last of these, being a rugger bugger. I haven't time for all this opening accounts in other countries stuff - I suppose I'm not arsed enough about watching american shows - but I do agree it is frustrating that one has to repeatedly use the tradesman's entrance, so to speak, in order to do something so simple.

blah, how do I delete a comment once made?

Once it's there it's there. You can only edit it.

Now that is interesting. The voice guidance on Q also depends on a broadband connection. I didn't realise this until I moved house and had TV but no broadband for about a week. NO broadband meant no voice guidance. So I'm guessing that even with SkyQ there is at least a partial element of the screen reader that is not done locally. I wonder why it works so well on Q then but not on stream? If you're only getting the basic package that would explain your very low price. I can't leave sky now - I've been sucked in. Plus I just must have the sports channels. stand up, if you love the darts.

Apologies for going slightly off topic here, but I miss Basketball. I have yet to find a good enough descriptive service to enjoy it, and it has been so long since I did enjoy that particular sport that I barely remember anything about it.