David DeNotaris loves sitting down with his family to watch "Suits," a legal drama. That’s not unusual—the show is enjoying a resurgence on Netflix. What’s noteworthy, though, is that he has been blind since he was 19 years old.
Years ago, watching TV didn’t hold that much allure for DeNotaris, a motivational speaker and trainer specializing in accessibility and resiliency issues. But advancing technology has changed that. One turning point was the 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, when the event was broadcast with audio descriptions for the first time.
"When I was younger, my family used to watch the Macy’s parade, but I never really got into it," he says. "But when NBC started offering audio descriptions of the parade, the colors, shapes, floats, and different dancers and characters, and vehicles made the parade come alive for me. I was able to share that experience with my family in a way I wasn’t able to previously."
Audio descriptions of what’s happening on the screen are just one of the technologies that can help people who are blind or have low vision enjoy TV, even if they can’t clearly see the actors’ faces, identify background objects, or read menus or printed text on the screen. The technologies are advancing quickly, and if you or someone you know has any type of vision loss, the TV accessibility features we list below may help.
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One reason for the progress is a 2010 law called the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA). It updated earlier federal communications legislation to deliver improved closed captioning and audio descriptions to consumers. A proposed law could go further. The Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA) would require audio description for almost all television programming, and extend the rules to include all streaming content.
Both consumers and advocates for people with disabilities say there’s more to be done. Meanwhile, to take advantage of existing features, go to the Accessibility section of your TV’s Settings. The specifics vary by TV manufacturer; the examples below come from a range of 2023 sets from Hisense, LG, Roku, Samsung, and Sony.
A number of these features let you use a TV without any vision at all—you can listen to audio descriptions and program guides, and adjust the volume and other settings with voice commands. Other features make it easier to see what’s happening on the screen, for instance by increasing the contrast or changing the colors of the image.
Source: Roku Source: Roku
Closed Captioning
Thanks to the 2010 law, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, all programming shown on broadcast or cable TV has closed captions. And if that content is later available online, it will still have the captioning. Most streaming-only shows produced by platforms such as Netflix and Hulu have closed captions, too.
However, the captions may not be easy for people with vision impairments to read. Many TVs let you customize the captions’ text style, size, color, and opacity, along with the background colors. Making text bigger and increasing the contrast against its background can make it more legible.
Audio Descriptions and Controls
Most TVs support Audio Descriptions, like the ones that allow David DeNotaris to enjoy the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. This feature is called Screen Reader on some televisions, and many sets let you adjust the voice’s speed, volume, and pitch. Fewer people may know about technologies like the following, which vary from brand to brand. It’s a good idea to explore your own TV’s accessibility settings to see what’s available.
- TalkBack, which you’ll find on Google TVs from companies including Hisense and Sony, is essentially a screen reader that helps users navigate the onscreen menus and program guides by converting onscreen text to speech, enabling you to use the TV without vision. You can find additional options and settings for TalkBack, such as speech rate and intonation, in the Accessibility menu under Text to Speech.
- Text Zoom/Text Magnification lets you zoom in on specific areas of the screen, and enlarge to the text in menus. On Samsung TVs, this feature is called Zoom Menu and Text. On Sony Google TVs, it’s called Text Magnification. Often, both the zoom and magnification features can be used at the same time.
- Voice-guide (sometimes called audio guidance) audibly describes menus, program guides, and options for basic TV operations, such as adjusting the volume or changing inputs. You may also be able to adjust the speed, volume, and pitch of the audio guide.
- Learn Menu Screen, on Samsung sets, can audibly tell you about the layout and features of the menus you select.
In addition, many TVs with built-in digital assistants, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, allow for hands-free control of certain operations, such as searching for shows and movies to watch. You can also use voice commands to turn the TV on and off, or to adjust the volume.
Source: Google Source: Google
Changing Contrast and Color
Several picture settings can help people with limited vision. For example, many TVs now offer a high-contrast setting for text that makes it easier to read. This works by adjusting the background of some of the menus and font colors. If you have an older TV that lacks that setting, you can try adjusting the contrast manually in the picture controls area of the main Settings menu.
Some higher-end Samsung LCD TVs have an advanced feature called Relumino that does something similar with all the images on the screen. Relumino outlines the edges of objects while increasing the screen’s contrast, adjusting brightness, and boosting colors. This can make it easier for viewers with sight impairments to identify people and the shapes of other objects in the picture.
Here are some additional features you may have access to.
- Grayscale, available in TVs from LG and Samsung, converts the colors of the TV screen to black-and-white, which can make people and other subjects in an image look more defined, especially to people with color blindness.
- Color Inversion inverts the text and background colors of all the menu and settings items and apps on your TV. (It does not invert the colors of the videos that play.) For example, by inverting colors so that the text is white and the background is black, the setting can make navigating the menus easier. TVs with this feature include models from LG, Samsung, and Sony.
- SeeColors mode is unique to Samsung TVs, and it’s aimed at people who have deficiencies in color vision. It provides a choice of nine different color settings. By adjusting the red, green, and blue levels, SeeColors can help viewers better distinguish colors on the screen. You can try the various SeeColors picture presets, and choose the one that works best for you.
Source: Samsung Source: Samsung
Remote Controls
In addition to the remote control features, such as buttons to activate and shut off captions and audio descriptions, mandated by the CVAA, many TV manufacturers have made their remotes easier to use for those with visual impairments.
For example, many manufacturers now include an accessibility shortcut button on remotes for easy access to those settings. Other times, you can call up the accessibility menu with a long press on the Mute button.
Also, some TV brands let users hear an audio description of remote-control functions. An example is the Learn Remote Control feature found on both LG and Samsung TVs; if you press a button on the remote control while the mode is on, the name and function of each button will be audibly explained.
Many TVs these days have built-in digital assistants, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, that let you control the TV and search for programs using voice commands.
In addition, there are any number of third-party universal remote controls for TVs and cable boxes that have features, such as extra large, illuminated buttons, to help blind or low-sight users. Some remotes use different shapes, textures, or tactile features, such as raised dots, to help identify buttons.
James K. Willcox
James K. Willcox leads Consumer Reports’ coverage of TVs, streaming media services and devices, broadband internet service, and the digital divide. He's also a homeowner covering several home improvement categories, including power washers and decking. A veteran journalist, Willcox has written for Business Week, Cargo, Maxim, Men’s Journal, Popular Science, Rolling Stone, Sound & Vision, and others. At home, he’s often bent over his workbench building guitars or cranking out music on his 7.2-channel home theater sound system.
