Freeview’s accessible TV guide to make things simpler for viewers
Freeview is rolling out its award-winning Accessible TV Guide which will make it simpler for viewers with accessibility needs to discover and find content more easily.
Developed with insight from viewers, advocacy groups, and accessibility research agencies, the Accessible TV Guide won Gold at this year’s Connected TV Awards.
It is the first dedicated accessibility solution to launch on a UK TV platform and the guide is easy to find via Channel 555 on Freeview Play devices and offers viewers a seamless experience.
People with hearing loss are able to choose programmes which are subtitled or supported with British Sign Language (BSL).
Upon selecting Channel 555 on a supported device, viewers will be asked for their preferred accessibility settings from the below options:
- Show only programmes with subtitles
- Show only programmes with sign language
- Use Text to Speech for on screen navigation
- Show only programmes with audio description
Viewers can choose to watch a demo of how the guide works or head straight to the guide. The guide will launch a filtered version of the linear TV schedule showing the content coming up that fits the viewer’s own accessibility criteria. From here viewers can browse the available content and select what they want to watch.
The guide is accessible on Freeview Play devices including models from Panasonic, LG, Sharp and Toshiba. Viewers with supported devices may need to retune their TVs to start receiving the Accessible TV Guide.
The full list of supported Freeview Play devices is available at https://www.freeview.co.uk/help/accessible-tv-guide.
Hearing Link volunteers will be trialling the new TV guide soon – watch this space for our review!