![]() She said Spectrum needed to send me the necessary computer codes. When I explained that there wasn't any text-to-speech, she said Spectrum does not have a voice-activated remote.Īfter a very long time, I spoke to someone who said she knew what to do. I finally reached someone who said I already had an accessible cable box. Others thought I meant closed captioning, not text-to-speech output on the cable device. Most of the people I spoke with had no idea what I was talking about. I was on the phone that night for well over an hour as I got transferred from person to person. When I got home from the conference in March, I called Spectrum to ask about accessible cable boxes. I live in New York City, which is a major market. Therefore, after the merger, Charter Communications became a major player in the cable industry. CNN projected that Charter Communications cable service will be in over 18 million homes in the US. Charter also purchased Bright House, a smaller cable company. According to a May 2016 CNN report, Charter was the number three provider in the US and Time Warner was number two, with Comcast being number one. So, my current cable provider is Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications. In 2016, Charter Communications acquired Time Warner Cable, which was my cable company before the merger. The largest cable companies are required to have the accessible boxes available now. ![]() In addition, the video description setting must be easily accessible with a specific key or button.Īccessible set-top boxes must be available on request from the TV provider, at no cost. Accessibility includes the ability to use menus, controls, and settings. Shel told the audience that any device that plays video and is made after December 2016 must be accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. They focused on access to video description. ![]() The FCC conference presenters were Suzy Rosen Singleton, Chief, and Will Schell, Attorney-Advisor, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. FCC Regulations Summary for Accessible Cable Boxes I figured I could call my cable company when I got home and get an accessible cable box. ![]() At the AccessWorld Tech Summit in March 2017, part of the American Foundation for the Blind's annual Leadership Conference, I was so excited while listening to a presentation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about accessible devices including cable boxes. ![]()
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