Alex, Roberts were actually very good when I asked them about their particular models. They did not recommend the Concerto, which is the one BWBF sell and which I agree is a bit limited, but instead they suggested the Ecologic4, and then the Ecologic4BT, both of which are very very good from a usability point of view. Audio quality is excellent, as I've always found to be the case with Roberts. So if you're still in the market for a DAB radio you might want to get the latest in the Ecologic series, whatever that is. it's been three years since I bought one so things may well have moved on. RNIB I think were quite keen to push the TVOnics solution while that was still being made, but that was talking Freeview of course so naught to do with Sky.
Hi, thanks for the advice, the concerto2 does most of what I need, just doesn't support a few audio formats like flac, Bluetooth might be nice but not a must. plus I don't need the tape deck, but still want an ability to play cds, I am broadly happy with the concerto2. also it has a nasty habit of randomly wiping my station presets every so often then its a very frustrating process putting them back on. still I will keep an eye on Roberts offerings. anyway lets not hijack this topic by taking it off sky.
Hi All, and thanks for all of your recent comments.
James, we're glad to hear that this was resolved for you. We recently ran some very productive workshops with our accessibility agents. In addition, based on your feedback, we are taking further steps this week to ensure all agents are aware of the issue.
Being visually impaired myself, I absolutely recognise that the current situation is not ideal, and that the omission of remote control functionality in the Sky Q app has had an adverse effect on those who rely on text to speech. What has been discussed here remains a short term workaround, with our longer term plan being to enable text to speech on the set top box. This we believe is the best way to ensure complete equality of access to the box for our visually impaired customers. This is a large technical project, but one we are committed to.
Thanks also for your positive comments about the customer service received when calling Sky. We hope you will continue to reach out to our accessibility team, and to be happy with the level of service.
So while we believe Sky Q is an excellent product, I absolutely assure you myself and my colleagues are fully aware of the limitations of the product in relation to blind and visually impaired customers, and are working hard to address them. Your feedback only helps to make that happen, so thank you for reaching out.
Dave.
well this is certainly encouraging that sky hopes to add text to speech to the box itself, hopefully this might mean we have more access to its functions than even the phone provides when using plus, though of course I am sure this is a very long term plan, still hopefully if its done right it will work very well, and give you an edge over the competition.
Dave, thank you very much for this very positive input from yourself and Sky. I think this is a really positive step but please could I ask that the dialogue continues as unfortunately as you will see from previous Sky contributions, we were given hope that Sky was listening but then whoever was contributing on behalf of Sky just disappeared and not answering any of our concerns. I feel confident that will not be the case this time so thanks again and I’m sure all of us look forward to seeing the improvements to come.
As someone who has contributed regularly to this discussion over the years I just wanted to add my thanks, Dave. Your comments are very encouraging. I love Sky and think it's a great product and I'm happy to stick with Sky if I know these limitations are being ironed out.
Hi All,
A new version of the Sky Go app is being launched this week. It is a phased rollout. Some of you may already have received an email about this.
Key Points:
The Sky Go and Sky Q apps have been merged into a single app.
Sky Q customers will now have the additional functionality, such as viewing recordings, inside the Sky Go app.
The Sky Q app will therefore soon be discontinued.
New cleaner user interface.
On iPhone, the slide out drawer (or hamburger menu) is gone, with the main navigation now being through tabs at the bottom of the screen.
On iPad, the side menu is gone, again replaced by tabs at the bottom of the screen.
Sky Q customers have an additional tab for Recordings.
I'm very happy to say that during video playback, the playback controls are now accessible to VoiceOver.
All buttons and other elements have clear VoiceOver labels.
Known issues:
While the playback controls are accessible to VoiceOver, you need to toggle VoiceOver off and tap the screen in order to dismiss them.
In the Home tab, there are headings for each sub-section, but VoiceOver does not recognise them as headings.
Where the programme tile is only an image, the whole tile is picked up as a VoiceOver touch target as we would want. However, where there is text underneath an image, VoiceOver only sees the text part. For technical reasons, fixing this would have caused more serious issues for customers on some older devices.
Ideally, "Item x of y" would be said after the programme title, rather than before it, but all relevant information is read by VoiceOver, and it is useful to know how many items are in the rail.
Hope the app works well for you and happy to hear your feedback.
Many thanks,
Dave
Thank you for relaying all the new features in the new sky Q and sky go app. This sounds very interesting and can’t wait to try it out. The few problems that you have indicated are well worked around options. I have one query. Which is always been my biggest thing with the Sky Q app is do I still need a multi viewing box i.e. to box in the house to access the recordings on my sky Q app which will be the new app now. So do I still have to have a second box as I have got rid of my second multiview which box because it was for €17 and I’m now enquiring can I have only the sky Q box. And still access my recordings on the new app. As that was not on the soon-to-be old sky Q app if this still is not the case. The new app would be still 100% useless as the whole purpose of sky Q box is to record multiple shows and have them on demand but if you cannot access them you cannot play them thank you in advance sky
Hi Michael. There is no change in that respect. Sky Q customers will be able to view recordings, but the Multiscreen is required.
Please do call our accessibility team though to discuss your particular situation.
Thanks Oliver, glad you like it.
I'm not aware of any plans right now, but that's not to say it'll never happen. If it does, we will be working hard from the start to ensure it is accessible.
Just to add regarding the new Sky Go app, it is a much improved and more functional and accessible experience than the previous Sky Q app.
As well as the points referred to above by Sky access re being able to access the Playback controls when streaming material from the Sky Q box and the improved and easier navigation with tabs at the bottom of the window, there are some other very welcome changes.
With the multi-screen add-on which Sky have agreed to refund for blind customers who cannot navigate the Sky Q interface, it is now possible to stream both live TV and recorded shows from the Sky Q box with audio description. This is not possible with the sky q app. I know that the upgraded app has made the difference here as I can stream the same recording from the Sky q box to both apps and AD consistently only works with the newer Sky Go app.
So you can access AD through the app for any recorded show which has AD and are no longer limited to shows which can be downloaded or the time limits for viewing which apply to downloads. So you can now access BBC AD via Sky Q. Previously this didn't work as BBC shows are not available for Download through Sky Q and AD only worked on downloads.
It is also possible with the new app to manage series links and delete recordings from the Sky Q box. When you delete an episode, Voice Over reads a message along the lines of "this show is no longer available, check your network connection or go to downloads" which doesn't quite fit the context, but at least deleting works.
The issues with the phone not responding to every double tap with Voice Over when navigating the interface also appear to have been resolved.
So the only things that you cannot do with the new app are change channel on the TV or play a show on the TV connected to the box, which I realise will be very important for some people.
I haven't tried to Airplay from the app to an Apple TV yet so don't know if that would be a solution for people who want to play programmes on the TV for children and so on. If no-one else tries this I will give it a go in a few days and let you know if it works.
There are some minor issues with the new Sky Go app. Firstly, when using the "flick" gestures to move through programmes in the TV guide, the record button for a programme appears before the programme title itself. So, for example you may flick right and hear "Record Match of the Day" and then flick right again and hear "match of the day", flick right again and hear "Record BBC News" followed by "BBC News". this is a little counter-intuitive as it would normally be the other way round, but at least the label for the "record" button includes the name of the programme, so there is no doubt what you are recording.
There is a more significant issue with recording shows from BBC channels with audio description. I am in Wales but I think that this issue applies to anywhere outside the BBC London region for BBC1 and anywhere outside England for BBC2. There may also be a similar issue with regional variations of Channel 4 in England but I am not sure about this so will use the BBC as my example.
Unless I am missing something, there is no AD on channel 101 unless you are in London or 102 unless you are in England. Only BBC 1 London (channel 954 outside London) and BBC2 England (channel 969 outside England) carry audio description, so you have to scroll all the way down the channel list to reach these channels to set a recording. searching for a BBC programme title only seems to show you the local version of the BBC channels, although admittedly I haven't tried recording from search results. There is no easy way to get to the bottom of the list of channels to reach 954 for BBC1 or 969 for BBC2. If you land on the first tab control at the bottom and flick left you land on the last visible channel in the guide,not the very bottom. You can't just display your favourite channels in the sky Go app guide as far as I know, as you can in the Sky Plus app. So you have to scroll the whole list which is several hundred pages long using three-finger gestures to scroll up and down . a partial solution is to select the "entertainment" genre of channels in the guide in the app, which cuts the list down to 49 pages of channels, but that is still quite a list to scroll through. Adding favourites functionality to the app or a keypad where you could type in a channel number would solve this. This issue does not stop you recording these channels, but it does take a while!
I don't think ITV is affected by this issue as I understand that all regional versions of ITV on Sky carry AD, so you can access it on channel 103.
However, these are very minor issues with a much improved app. I can tell that Sky have really made a significant effort to improve the accessibility of the sky Go and Sky Q experience with Voice Over and this is really encouraging. I hope that we continue to see progress and it was really heartening to hear that Sky is committed to bringing speech output to the Sky Q box. I agree that this will be the most inclusive way of ensuring accessibility for visually impaired people as a lot of people who enjoy TV are not able to master the skills to use mobile apps.
Thank you.
Hi JamesODell, your posting is very useful for me :)
I just need to clarify about the AudioDescription in new SkyGo app, which is your statement here = " it is now possible to stream both live TV and recorded shows from the Sky Q box with audio description. This is not possible with the sky q app. I know that the upgraded app has made the difference here as I can stream the same recording from the Sky q box to both apps and AD consistently only works with the newer Sky Go app.
So you can access AD through the app for any recorded show which has AD and are no longer limited to shows which can be downloaded or the time limits for viewing which apply to downloads."
I recorded some programmes that have AudioDescription to my Sky box and I hear their AudioDescription playing from my box, but I do not hear their AudioDescription when I play them in my new SkyGo app in my iphone, both from Recordings menu and from Downloads menu (after I download them to my iphone). I used 'Spiderman Into the Spider Verse', 'Elementary Series 7 episode 5', 'Ralph Breaks The Internet' which have the AD badge.
I know that AudioDescription has never been available when played in previous SkyGo app or SkyQ app before, so I am curious which programmes did you use that have AudioDescription available in new SkyGo app like you described?
Could it be because you’re choosing to download the program to iPhone meaning it is downloading the OnDemand version rather than that on your box? Instead of downloading it to your iPhone, just choose to play the program in the apps recordings tab and see if the audio description plays then as that will be taking it from your box.
I realise this may not be the case for everybody, but for me the new sky go app is a game changer. Just in 24 hours, I’ve managed to completely clean up my recordings on the box, and have very easily been able to set recordings and scheduled recordings. i can watch programs, even live programs with audio description with very little effort. I would argue that this solution is now far better than Sky plus Particularly given that it is very easy to get your box to play a specific program using voice recognition as long as you give the exact name of the program which you can now see easily using the app. although Dave seems keen to pass on our feedback, I also intend to provide feedback direct to my contact sky so feel free to post any requests here and I will pass them on in addition to Dave‘s efforts just so we know we are being listened to. Does anybody else agree it would now be safe for blind customers to upgrade to sky Q? Of course making sure that they have a multi room subscription included for free in that package via the accessibility team as this is needed to be able to use the app in the way we’ve discussed.
Hi. If I understand you right. I still require a second sky Q box i.e. multiview which box. Which I need to still purchase for €17. A month for 12 months. So I can use the app to which 100% capacity. So the new sky go app will work with the second multiview each box. And if I do not have that I still not can’t access my recordings. I do not see the difference between the Sky Q app and the sky go app if this is the point. As in the sky Q app I could still get into my recordings and delete and money and record multiple shows with series link. So unfortunately if they do not fix the issue of requiring us to get a second box for €17 a month I personally do not see the point of moving over to the new sky go app
Hi Michael. I'll try to clarify this for you.
Previously, we had two separate apps, Sky Go and Sky Q. In reality, the apps were almost identical, except that the Sky Q app had some additional features, allowing you to browse and view your recordings from your Sky Q box on your iPhone or iPad.
Now, we have merged the two into a single app, just called Sky Go. Those features which were previously exclusive to theSky Q app, are now available in this new Sky Go app, but only too Sky Q customers.
So in a sense, feature availability has not changed. It's just that it's all done in the Sky Go app now, and the Sky Q app is being discontinued.
Yes, a Multiscreen subscription is required to access some of these features. But if you feel that is not appropriate for your situation, please give our Accessibility team a call and explain your situation.
As mentioned above though, there have also been a number of accessibility improvements to this new Sky Go app.
Hope that helps.
Michael, the differences between the new Sky Go app and the old sky Q app are that the Sky Go app is much more easy and accessible with voice-over. You can also delete and manage your recordings far easier in the new app. You could not delete recordings from your box using the sky Q app. Also, the playback controls in the app are fully accessible with voice-over which they were not with the sky Q app. Yes, you will need a sky multi room subscription. However, on a case-by-case basis, the accessibility team can consider as a reasonable adjustment whether this should be offered for free. Looking at previous posts, I think in that situation, you just wouldn’t receive the second box but would have the benefits of the multi room subscription within the Sky Go app. I think it’s important that blind customers are made aware that this is a possible option even though it isn’t guaranteed in every case.
If anyone is running iOS 13 beta, there is an issue with the app which means it will not find your box and bring up the recordings tab. Affix has already been found and I’m sure will be released shortly.
Hi Oliver. Other than the IOS13 issue which Peter refers to above, the only other reason I can think of re why you cannot see the recordings at your parents' house would be if you are not signed into the app with their Sky ID and password, which you can do in settings. Or perhaps they have more than one Wifi network and you are not on the same network as the Sky Q Box? I know that one is a long shot.
While I am here I would just like to thank Peter for going to the effort of writing to Sky alleging discrimination and persuading them to refund the multi-sscreen subscription. It has made a real difference in enabling me and others to access Sky Q with the new Sky Go app and this now finally provides a much better experience.
HI Oliver. Does the recording you are trying to play have AD if played on the Sky box itself?
My understanding is that for audio description to work in-app, the audio description setting on the box itself will need to have been enabled when the programme was recorded (otherwise the AD will not have been included in the recording). The AD will also not have been included in the recording if you are out of London and it was recorded from either channel 101 or 102 - BBC1 and BBC 2 - use 954 and 969 instead. The Audio description setting on the box will also need to be enabled at the point when you stream or download a show to a phone or Ipad. I understand that Sky Q records the AD separately, which means if you turn the AD setting off and play something recorded with AD, the AD will not play. On-demand shows also do not have AD.
To clarify, there is no AD setting in the app itself, whether you get AD when streaming or downloading depends on the AD setting on the box being on at the time of recording and streaming/downloading and the right channel being recorded etc.
Hi Oliver. Just for clarification. Are you using the Sky Go app or the Sky Q app? And if it is Sky Go, is it definitely the new version. This is being rolled out over a few weeks, so it's possible you're still on the old one.
The easiest way to tell is to check if you still have the side menu on the left of the screen, or do you have the tabs at the bottom of the screen?
Apologies for asking for another summary but I'm about to upgrade to skyQ as my Sky+ is getting rather ancient now and experiencing more an more crashes. As I understand it, the app is much better in terms of accessibility but I still need multi-screen to make it work. Multi-screen should be discounted for blind customers as a reasonable adjustment. That way I can browse recordings, interact with audio description, stream to a mobile device from the box and so on, but I can't use the app to play a recording on the TV to which the box is connected. however, I can still play a recording on the TV to which the box is connected via voice control, so that limitation's not the end of the world.
Am I right about all this? is there anything I have missed out? Also, and forgive me if this has been covered previously in this discussion, can you tell me a little bit more about getting programmes to play using your voice? Is it some sort of alexa-style process?
Hello there. Yob the new sky Q app is very accessible. It will be the sky go app will be one as sky Q app has been discontinued. Also following on from you think that the sky multiview which package should be discounted. Over here in Ireland. I have contacted sky are numerous occasions up to a year ago. And have now got it free. As you do not need to have a box in your other room. They can just put multi viewing on as a free option. As are you need to tell them as are you are vision paired are blind. And you do not wish to have multi view which to use an app that should be accessible at 100% as you cannot read the box. And I have received it free for 12 months and have had it over a year and a half now. Free. Also To use the speech process. You need to purchase a remote control I think they are €30. What a button on the side and you press that and speak into and remote control. Also when you’re getting your Sky Q set up maybe ask him for this box or sorry Remelle control they might throw in free. It might also be free today. As I say I’ve had my sky Q for maybe four years now. So as I said to use the speech process which sometimes works sometimes doesn’t. It is a bit tricky. As you may say play Coronation Street. It may then bring you into the folder sometimes. But you will not see that on the screen if you are fully blind. So when I say play Carnation Street it’s sometimes opens the folder if I have numerous Coronation Street in there. So sometimes it is easier to play a A single sure are a film usually works better. But when you are trying to play a folder with numerous shows on there. It gets a bit stupid then. But maybe I think as far as I heard from sky there is a big upgrade coming with the sky Q box this year. Which may fix a lot of these issues
Thank you, Michael, that's really helpful. I'm glad it's working well for you. I think someone else said even where you've got lots of shows with the same name, like one of the soaps, you can still get it to play if you tell it to play the exact recording you want. so I'm guessing this means if you say: 'play coronation street 30th December 2019' that is what it will do. It's reassuring to hear it's working well for you though.
Comments
DAB radio
Alex, Roberts were actually very good when I asked them about their particular models. They did not recommend the Concerto, which is the one BWBF sell and which I agree is a bit limited, but instead they suggested the Ecologic4, and then the Ecologic4BT, both of which are very very good from a usability point of view. Audio quality is excellent, as I've always found to be the case with Roberts. So if you're still in the market for a DAB radio you might want to get the latest in the Ecologic series, whatever that is. it's been three years since I bought one so things may well have moved on. RNIB I think were quite keen to push the TVOnics solution while that was still being made, but that was talking Freeview of course so naught to do with Sky.
Hi, thanks for the advice,
Hi, thanks for the advice, the concerto2 does most of what I need, just doesn't support a few audio formats like flac, Bluetooth might be nice but not a must. plus I don't need the tape deck, but still want an ability to play cds, I am broadly happy with the concerto2. also it has a nasty habit of randomly wiping my station presets every so often then its a very frustrating process putting them back on. still I will keep an eye on Roberts offerings. anyway lets not hijack this topic by taking it off sky.
Responses
Hi All, and thanks for all of your recent comments.
James, we're glad to hear that this was resolved for you. We recently ran some very productive workshops with our accessibility agents. In addition, based on your feedback, we are taking further steps this week to ensure all agents are aware of the issue.
Being visually impaired myself, I absolutely recognise that the current situation is not ideal, and that the omission of remote control functionality in the Sky Q app has had an adverse effect on those who rely on text to speech. What has been discussed here remains a short term workaround, with our longer term plan being to enable text to speech on the set top box. This we believe is the best way to ensure complete equality of access to the box for our visually impaired customers. This is a large technical project, but one we are committed to.
Thanks also for your positive comments about the customer service received when calling Sky. We hope you will continue to reach out to our accessibility team, and to be happy with the level of service.
So while we believe Sky Q is an excellent product, I absolutely assure you myself and my colleagues are fully aware of the limitations of the product in relation to blind and visually impaired customers, and are working hard to address them. Your feedback only helps to make that happen, so thank you for reaching out.
Dave.
well this is certainly
well this is certainly encouraging that sky hopes to add text to speech to the box itself, hopefully this might mean we have more access to its functions than even the phone provides when using plus, though of course I am sure this is a very long term plan, still hopefully if its done right it will work very well, and give you an edge over the competition.
Re responses
Dave, thank you very much for this very positive input from yourself and Sky. I think this is a really positive step but please could I ask that the dialogue continues as unfortunately as you will see from previous Sky contributions, we were given hope that Sky was listening but then whoever was contributing on behalf of Sky just disappeared and not answering any of our concerns. I feel confident that will not be the case this time so thanks again and I’m sure all of us look forward to seeing the improvements to come.
Thanks
As someone who has contributed regularly to this discussion over the years I just wanted to add my thanks, Dave. Your comments are very encouraging. I love Sky and think it's a great product and I'm happy to stick with Sky if I know these limitations are being ironed out.
App Update
Hi All,
A new version of the Sky Go app is being launched this week. It is a phased rollout. Some of you may already have received an email about this.
Key Points:
The Sky Go and Sky Q apps have been merged into a single app.
Sky Q customers will now have the additional functionality, such as viewing recordings, inside the Sky Go app.
The Sky Q app will therefore soon be discontinued.
New cleaner user interface.
On iPhone, the slide out drawer (or hamburger menu) is gone, with the main navigation now being through tabs at the bottom of the screen.
On iPad, the side menu is gone, again replaced by tabs at the bottom of the screen.
Sky Q customers have an additional tab for Recordings.
I'm very happy to say that during video playback, the playback controls are now accessible to VoiceOver.
All buttons and other elements have clear VoiceOver labels.
Known issues:
While the playback controls are accessible to VoiceOver, you need to toggle VoiceOver off and tap the screen in order to dismiss them.
In the Home tab, there are headings for each sub-section, but VoiceOver does not recognise them as headings.
Where the programme tile is only an image, the whole tile is picked up as a VoiceOver touch target as we would want. However, where there is text underneath an image, VoiceOver only sees the text part. For technical reasons, fixing this would have caused more serious issues for customers on some older devices.
Ideally, "Item x of y" would be said after the programme title, rather than before it, but all relevant information is read by VoiceOver, and it is useful to know how many items are in the rail.
Hope the app works well for you and happy to hear your feedback.
Many thanks,
Dave
New sky Q app sounds very interesting
Thank you for relaying all the new features in the new sky Q and sky go app. This sounds very interesting and can’t wait to try it out. The few problems that you have indicated are well worked around options. I have one query. Which is always been my biggest thing with the Sky Q app is do I still need a multi viewing box i.e. to box in the house to access the recordings on my sky Q app which will be the new app now. So do I still have to have a second box as I have got rid of my second multiview which box because it was for €17 and I’m now enquiring can I have only the sky Q box. And still access my recordings on the new app. As that was not on the soon-to-be old sky Q app if this still is not the case. The new app would be still 100% useless as the whole purpose of sky Q box is to record multiple shows and have them on demand but if you cannot access them you cannot play them thank you in advance sky
Hi Michael. There is no
Hi Michael. There is no change in that respect. Sky Q customers will be able to view recordings, but the Multiscreen is required.
Please do call our accessibility team though to discuss your particular situation.
Thanks Oliver, glad you like
Thanks Oliver, glad you like it.
I'm not aware of any plans right now, but that's not to say it'll never happen. If it does, we will be working hard from the start to ensure it is accessible.
The new Sky Go app - further improvements
HI all
Just to add regarding the new Sky Go app, it is a much improved and more functional and accessible experience than the previous Sky Q app.
As well as the points referred to above by Sky access re being able to access the Playback controls when streaming material from the Sky Q box and the improved and easier navigation with tabs at the bottom of the window, there are some other very welcome changes.
With the multi-screen add-on which Sky have agreed to refund for blind customers who cannot navigate the Sky Q interface, it is now possible to stream both live TV and recorded shows from the Sky Q box with audio description. This is not possible with the sky q app. I know that the upgraded app has made the difference here as I can stream the same recording from the Sky q box to both apps and AD consistently only works with the newer Sky Go app.
So you can access AD through the app for any recorded show which has AD and are no longer limited to shows which can be downloaded or the time limits for viewing which apply to downloads. So you can now access BBC AD via Sky Q. Previously this didn't work as BBC shows are not available for Download through Sky Q and AD only worked on downloads.
It is also possible with the new app to manage series links and delete recordings from the Sky Q box. When you delete an episode, Voice Over reads a message along the lines of "this show is no longer available, check your network connection or go to downloads" which doesn't quite fit the context, but at least deleting works.
The issues with the phone not responding to every double tap with Voice Over when navigating the interface also appear to have been resolved.
So the only things that you cannot do with the new app are change channel on the TV or play a show on the TV connected to the box, which I realise will be very important for some people.
I haven't tried to Airplay from the app to an Apple TV yet so don't know if that would be a solution for people who want to play programmes on the TV for children and so on. If no-one else tries this I will give it a go in a few days and let you know if it works.
There are some minor issues with the new Sky Go app. Firstly, when using the "flick" gestures to move through programmes in the TV guide, the record button for a programme appears before the programme title itself. So, for example you may flick right and hear "Record Match of the Day" and then flick right again and hear "match of the day", flick right again and hear "Record BBC News" followed by "BBC News". this is a little counter-intuitive as it would normally be the other way round, but at least the label for the "record" button includes the name of the programme, so there is no doubt what you are recording.
There is a more significant issue with recording shows from BBC channels with audio description. I am in Wales but I think that this issue applies to anywhere outside the BBC London region for BBC1 and anywhere outside England for BBC2. There may also be a similar issue with regional variations of Channel 4 in England but I am not sure about this so will use the BBC as my example.
Unless I am missing something, there is no AD on channel 101 unless you are in London or 102 unless you are in England. Only BBC 1 London (channel 954 outside London) and BBC2 England (channel 969 outside England) carry audio description, so you have to scroll all the way down the channel list to reach these channels to set a recording. searching for a BBC programme title only seems to show you the local version of the BBC channels, although admittedly I haven't tried recording from search results. There is no easy way to get to the bottom of the list of channels to reach 954 for BBC1 or 969 for BBC2. If you land on the first tab control at the bottom and flick left you land on the last visible channel in the guide,not the very bottom. You can't just display your favourite channels in the sky Go app guide as far as I know, as you can in the Sky Plus app. So you have to scroll the whole list which is several hundred pages long using three-finger gestures to scroll up and down . a partial solution is to select the "entertainment" genre of channels in the guide in the app, which cuts the list down to 49 pages of channels, but that is still quite a list to scroll through. Adding favourites functionality to the app or a keypad where you could type in a channel number would solve this. This issue does not stop you recording these channels, but it does take a while!
I don't think ITV is affected by this issue as I understand that all regional versions of ITV on Sky carry AD, so you can access it on channel 103.
However, these are very minor issues with a much improved app. I can tell that Sky have really made a significant effort to improve the accessibility of the sky Go and Sky Q experience with Voice Over and this is really encouraging. I hope that we continue to see progress and it was really heartening to hear that Sky is committed to bringing speech output to the Sky Q box. I agree that this will be the most inclusive way of ensuring accessibility for visually impaired people as a lot of people who enjoy TV are not able to master the skills to use mobile apps.
Thank you.
I dont hear AD in my new Sky Go app
Hi JamesODell, your posting is very useful for me :)
I just need to clarify about the AudioDescription in new SkyGo app, which is your statement here = " it is now possible to stream both live TV and recorded shows from the Sky Q box with audio description. This is not possible with the sky q app. I know that the upgraded app has made the difference here as I can stream the same recording from the Sky q box to both apps and AD consistently only works with the newer Sky Go app.
So you can access AD through the app for any recorded show which has AD and are no longer limited to shows which can be downloaded or the time limits for viewing which apply to downloads."
I recorded some programmes that have AudioDescription to my Sky box and I hear their AudioDescription playing from my box, but I do not hear their AudioDescription when I play them in my new SkyGo app in my iphone, both from Recordings menu and from Downloads menu (after I download them to my iphone). I used 'Spiderman Into the Spider Verse', 'Elementary Series 7 episode 5', 'Ralph Breaks The Internet' which have the AD badge.
I know that AudioDescription has never been available when played in previous SkyGo app or SkyQ app before, so I am curious which programmes did you use that have AudioDescription available in new SkyGo app like you described?
Thank you in advance.
Could it be because
Could it be because you’re choosing to download the program to iPhone meaning it is downloading the OnDemand version rather than that on your box? Instead of downloading it to your iPhone, just choose to play the program in the apps recordings tab and see if the audio description plays then as that will be taking it from your box.
I think the new app is a game changer
I realise this may not be the case for everybody, but for me the new sky go app is a game changer. Just in 24 hours, I’ve managed to completely clean up my recordings on the box, and have very easily been able to set recordings and scheduled recordings. i can watch programs, even live programs with audio description with very little effort. I would argue that this solution is now far better than Sky plus Particularly given that it is very easy to get your box to play a specific program using voice recognition as long as you give the exact name of the program which you can now see easily using the app. although Dave seems keen to pass on our feedback, I also intend to provide feedback direct to my contact sky so feel free to post any requests here and I will pass them on in addition to Dave‘s efforts just so we know we are being listened to. Does anybody else agree it would now be safe for blind customers to upgrade to sky Q? Of course making sure that they have a multi room subscription included for free in that package via the accessibility team as this is needed to be able to use the app in the way we’ve discussed.
So if I am reading you are right. Do I still need a multi view w
Hi. If I understand you right. I still require a second sky Q box i.e. multiview which box. Which I need to still purchase for €17. A month for 12 months. So I can use the app to which 100% capacity. So the new sky go app will work with the second multiview each box. And if I do not have that I still not can’t access my recordings. I do not see the difference between the Sky Q app and the sky go app if this is the point. As in the sky Q app I could still get into my recordings and delete and money and record multiple shows with series link. So unfortunately if they do not fix the issue of requiring us to get a second box for €17 a month I personally do not see the point of moving over to the new sky go app
Hi Michael. I'll try to
Hi Michael. I'll try to clarify this for you.
Previously, we had two separate apps, Sky Go and Sky Q. In reality, the apps were almost identical, except that the Sky Q app had some additional features, allowing you to browse and view your recordings from your Sky Q box on your iPhone or iPad.
Now, we have merged the two into a single app, just called Sky Go. Those features which were previously exclusive to theSky Q app, are now available in this new Sky Go app, but only too Sky Q customers.
So in a sense, feature availability has not changed. It's just that it's all done in the Sky Go app now, and the Sky Q app is being discontinued.
Yes, a Multiscreen subscription is required to access some of these features. But if you feel that is not appropriate for your situation, please give our Accessibility team a call and explain your situation.
As mentioned above though, there have also been a number of accessibility improvements to this new Sky Go app.
Hope that helps.
Michael, the differences are
Michael, the differences between the new Sky Go app and the old sky Q app are that the Sky Go app is much more easy and accessible with voice-over. You can also delete and manage your recordings far easier in the new app. You could not delete recordings from your box using the sky Q app. Also, the playback controls in the app are fully accessible with voice-over which they were not with the sky Q app. Yes, you will need a sky multi room subscription. However, on a case-by-case basis, the accessibility team can consider as a reasonable adjustment whether this should be offered for free. Looking at previous posts, I think in that situation, you just wouldn’t receive the second box but would have the benefits of the multi room subscription within the Sky Go app. I think it’s important that blind customers are made aware that this is a possible option even though it isn’t guaranteed in every case.
Recordings and iOS 13 beta
If anyone is running iOS 13 beta, there is an issue with the app which means it will not find your box and bring up the recordings tab. Affix has already been found and I’m sure will be released shortly.
For Oliver - Not seeing recordings on Sky Q at parents house
Hi Oliver. Other than the IOS13 issue which Peter refers to above, the only other reason I can think of re why you cannot see the recordings at your parents' house would be if you are not signed into the app with their Sky ID and password, which you can do in settings. Or perhaps they have more than one Wifi network and you are not on the same network as the Sky Q Box? I know that one is a long shot.
Thanks Peter
While I am here I would just like to thank Peter for going to the effort of writing to Sky alleging discrimination and persuading them to refund the multi-sscreen subscription. It has made a real difference in enabling me and others to access Sky Q with the new Sky Go app and this now finally provides a much better experience.
Getting audio description working in app
HI Oliver. Does the recording you are trying to play have AD if played on the Sky box itself?
My understanding is that for audio description to work in-app, the audio description setting on the box itself will need to have been enabled when the programme was recorded (otherwise the AD will not have been included in the recording). The AD will also not have been included in the recording if you are out of London and it was recorded from either channel 101 or 102 - BBC1 and BBC 2 - use 954 and 969 instead. The Audio description setting on the box will also need to be enabled at the point when you stream or download a show to a phone or Ipad. I understand that Sky Q records the AD separately, which means if you turn the AD setting off and play something recorded with AD, the AD will not play. On-demand shows also do not have AD.
To clarify, there is no AD setting in the app itself, whether you get AD when streaming or downloading depends on the AD setting on the box being on at the time of recording and streaming/downloading and the right channel being recorded etc.
Hope this helps.
For Oliver
Hi Oliver. Just for clarification. Are you using the Sky Go app or the Sky Q app? And if it is Sky Go, is it definitely the new version. This is being rolled out over a few weeks, so it's possible you're still on the old one.
The easiest way to tell is to check if you still have the side menu on the left of the screen, or do you have the tabs at the bottom of the screen?
Where we are
Hi all,
Apologies for asking for another summary but I'm about to upgrade to skyQ as my Sky+ is getting rather ancient now and experiencing more an more crashes. As I understand it, the app is much better in terms of accessibility but I still need multi-screen to make it work. Multi-screen should be discounted for blind customers as a reasonable adjustment. That way I can browse recordings, interact with audio description, stream to a mobile device from the box and so on, but I can't use the app to play a recording on the TV to which the box is connected. however, I can still play a recording on the TV to which the box is connected via voice control, so that limitation's not the end of the world.
Am I right about all this? is there anything I have missed out? Also, and forgive me if this has been covered previously in this discussion, can you tell me a little bit more about getting programmes to play using your voice? Is it some sort of alexa-style process?
Getting multi room Free
Hello there. Yob the new sky Q app is very accessible. It will be the sky go app will be one as sky Q app has been discontinued. Also following on from you think that the sky multiview which package should be discounted. Over here in Ireland. I have contacted sky are numerous occasions up to a year ago. And have now got it free. As you do not need to have a box in your other room. They can just put multi viewing on as a free option. As are you need to tell them as are you are vision paired are blind. And you do not wish to have multi view which to use an app that should be accessible at 100% as you cannot read the box. And I have received it free for 12 months and have had it over a year and a half now. Free. Also To use the speech process. You need to purchase a remote control I think they are €30. What a button on the side and you press that and speak into and remote control. Also when you’re getting your Sky Q set up maybe ask him for this box or sorry Remelle control they might throw in free. It might also be free today. As I say I’ve had my sky Q for maybe four years now. So as I said to use the speech process which sometimes works sometimes doesn’t. It is a bit tricky. As you may say play Coronation Street. It may then bring you into the folder sometimes. But you will not see that on the screen if you are fully blind. So when I say play Carnation Street it’s sometimes opens the folder if I have numerous Coronation Street in there. So sometimes it is easier to play a A single sure are a film usually works better. But when you are trying to play a folder with numerous shows on there. It gets a bit stupid then. But maybe I think as far as I heard from sky there is a big upgrade coming with the sky Q box this year. Which may fix a lot of these issues
Thanks
Thank you, Michael, that's really helpful. I'm glad it's working well for you. I think someone else said even where you've got lots of shows with the same name, like one of the soaps, you can still get it to play if you tell it to play the exact recording you want. so I'm guessing this means if you say: 'play coronation street 30th December 2019' that is what it will do. It's reassuring to hear it's working well for you though.