One option for making your TV more accessible

picture of fire TV remote

Amazon Fire TV has a number of features that make the TV accessible for individuals with low vision. 

Amazon Fire TV is a video streaming device that connects to a television or monitor and lets you watch TV shows and movies from apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and thousands of others.

Fire TV works like other media players such as Roku or Apple TV. It connects to a TV or monitor via an HDMI port and behaves sort of like the TV’s operating system. 

It has its own home page and library of free and subscription-based streaming apps that you can use to watch videos and listen to music. In that way, Fire TV turns any ordinary TV into a “smart” TV — or can be used as a replacement for the OS built into a smart TV.  There are five different versions of Fire TV at different price levels.Here are some of the accessibility features of Fire TV:

VoiceView

VoiceView is a built-in screen reader that speaks on-screen text out loud as you go through menu options and settings.

  • Use it to set up your device and navigate the controls.
  • Use VoiceView to read aloud the names of your Fire TV remote buttons when you press them.

To switch VoiceView on or off, hold down the Back and Menu buttons on your Fire TV remote at the same time. The Back and Menu buttons are the left and right buttons in the top row of three small buttons. To turn on the Explore Your Remote feature, press and hold the Play/Pause and Select buttons at the same time. The Play/Pause button is in the center on the second row of three buttons and the Select button is in the center of the Navigation Ring.

Audio Description

Audio Description describes actions, characters, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content. You can turn on Audio Description in the Audio menu while watching an individual movie or show or turn it on globally using the device accessibility setting.

Screen Magnifier

To enable Screen Magnifier, hold the Back and Fast Forward buttons, or go to Settings and select Accessibility to find out how to zoom in, zoom out, and pan in any direction.

Text Banner

Text Banner is an assistive technology designed for customers with a narrow field of vision. It consolidates on-screen text into a compact, customizable, written banner that appears in a fixed location on the screen.

High Contrast Text

High Contrast Text is a feature designed to help make text easier to read. It changes most of the text on-screen to black or white and adds a border of the opposite color.