Voice controlling TV for severely sight impaired parent

[FireandBrimstone]

Sorry if this isn’t exactly the right category to post this but I couldn’t find another that fit, and it is regarding my elderly (90s) parent, whose sight has rapidly deteriorated with numerous results including a massive reduction in stimuli.
Not being able to enjoy tv programmes is one of the issues and it’s mainly because he cannot manipulate the remote (reduced dexterity and sight) and can’t navigate or see on screen to find the right digital apps, change channel, see a tv guide or select a particular programme.
I thought I’d start to investigate voice controlled options but he needs to be able to control by voice the whole start to finish process ie not just turning a tv on, but browsing a tv guide (ideally with the tv ‘speaking’ what the options are), selecting a particular channel, or finding a particular programme from the on demand options. Has anyone got experience of this and could signpost me? He’s already using an Alexa device for music and radio but really missing being able to access tv even though increasingly he’s listening to that and not able to see much.
thanks in advance

Have you tried contacting the RNIB? They are expert on these kinds of things and can probably help point you in the right direction.

Hi OP, have you contacted your local sight loss charity or RNIB? They will know what the different options are so you don’t have to do all the research yourself. They should be able to help set it up too.

My DM has an LG TV. Can’t remember the model but it’s voice enabled and we have the audio description on so she knows what’s going on. Unsure if it can be switched on using the voice control though. We have self adhesive felt dots on the microphone and standby buttons to help identify them.

We have sky Q and Samsung smart TV and you can do a lot with voice control. My 86 year old vision impaired Mum mostly manages it. You can also get various large button remotes that might help. Sky have one I think.

Another thought, if you haven’t already done it, is to set up an iPad where he can watch TV. There are brilliant accessibility functions on an iPad. Maybe he could control the screen from the iPad and set up screen mirroring on the TV. You could then just ask Siri to start screen mirroring. It works well for my Mum mostly although not perfectly. The recent iOS update had us all tearing our hair out for a while but it’s all sorted for now.

It sounds like my Mums eyesight might be a bit better than your parents though.

We are trying to be really proactive and train her for when her eyesight gets even worse.

Also you can get a sky remote on your iPad. I haven’t looked at it but it looks like it would be very easy to use

Thank you for the replies. I had a look at the RNIB site which has a generic article on it, but I’ll maybe give them a call tomorrow and ask. He has had brilliant support from by a charity for sight-impaired veterans, but they don’t seem to be able to help with anything to do with the tv. We do have the rubber buttons to make using the remote a bit easier (thanks for that suggestion) but he can still find it difficult to manipulate the buttons. I think if there was voice assistance to understand (in the absence of sight) the on-screen options and then ideally select what he wants using his voice, that would be ideal. He still has great cognitive ability but learning new technology is very challenging so sadly I think we are a now just a bit beyond being able to introduce him to using the iPad.

You can set iPads (or similar) up so that they are extremely easy to use. So maybe don’t rule them out completely especially if you find things get worse in fuure.

im
not as familiar with Alexa but you should be able to get it to turn on the tv and to switch channels etc. He just needs a smart tv.
If you don’t know how to do just ask ai. Take a photo of his Alexa and his tv and ai will tell you how to do it.

Can’t help with advice for the tv more than op have but have you looked at the talking books and talking newspaper service? They’re free as is the postage, lots of audio books he could try .

An "Alexa" you speak to it & it replies

It will tell a person news, weather, facts, radio, music, jokes, anything verbally

No pictures

It needs a broadband connection

Blind ex had one from Curry's. I can't remember the exact make or modeling anyway, there seems probably different models available now. But Curry's were helpful, so I would go in and speak to them. (I am sighted, andi found it really annoying going through the menus by voice, but I wasn't the one it was there for.)

We have an Amazon TV fire stick remote that you can speak into.

You don't need Amazon or anything- just TV with Free view will be fine. You can also control Netflix or any other packages you buy with voice on a voice-controllable TV, if you do want them.