Study Finds Visually Impaired Adults Tune-In To Television Almost As Much As General Public

Comcast and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) recently released a survey of people with visual disabilities showing that a majority watch four or more hours per day – almost as much as the general public. Many of those surveyed report that today’s assistive technologies like video description, text-to-speech and voice control are helpful as they watch TV; however, those tools still suffer from low levels of awareness, according to the study.

For instance, the survey reported 96% of visually impaired adults watch television on a regular basis; however, less than half are aware of assistive technologies like video description and talking TV guides.

Comcast is working with a variety of partners to make television more accessible for everyone. For example, during the 2018 Winter Olympics, X1 customers with a visual impairment can simply say, “Shows with Video Description” to find NBC’s Olympic Primetime show. X1 then reads aloud the on-screen choices, which the customer can then enjoy with both the program’s audio and a separate narrator track describing all visual elements of the broadcast.

To learn more about the study and Comcast’s work in accessible technologies, visit here.