As we continue to make accessibility-related enhancements to Xfinity X1, frequent updates will be made to the talking guide — a voice guidance feature that allows customers who have visual disabilities the freedom to independently explore thousands of TV shows, movies and more.
Learn how the latest changes to X1 impact voice guidance, including what's new and any known issues.
For more information, see our overview of the X1 talking guide voice guidance feature.
Note: Voice guidance can now be turned on by pressing the B key twice instead of pressing the A key twice. While AA will continue to work for the time being, it will eventually be disabled. You can also use Voice Control and say "voice guidance" or "talking guide."
What's new
- When voice guidance is enabled, and you say a voice command into your Xfinity Voice Remote (such as “what time is it?”), the text will be displayed on-screen and you’ll hear the voice guidance.
- Commands you can say are:
- “What time is it?”
- “What song is this?”
- Or, you can directly search for a program.
- Commands you can say are:
- When voice guidance is enabled and you navigate to a program or channel page, voice guidance will read network or channel descriptions aloud to you.
Resolved issues
- Voice guidance is no longer interrupted after you've used the Voice Remote to search and find for a program page.
- For example, "Show me The Blacklist."
- Voice guidance is announcing "Now Playing" program information again when you tune to a new channel.
Previous enhancements
Voice guidance supports the ability to change speech rate. Additionally, voice guidance now works for the majority of apps on X1.
Voice guidance on X1 has been redesigned for increased stability and functionality. The talking guide now speaks on-screen notifications including but not limited to:
- "Restart this program from the beginning" alerts that appear when tuning to a program that's also available on your X1 DVR or through Xfinity On Demand.
- Caller ID alerts for customers who also subscribe to Xfinity Voice.
- Security system alerts for customers who also subscribe to Xfinity Home.
- Bonus content related to the programming that you're currently watching, including Extras or Sports.
- Low battery alerts for your Voice Remote.
Voice guidance on X1 also now includes Transport Bar functionality. Press the down arrow key on your Voice Remote while watching a full-screen video to reveal the Transport Bar, which includes:
- Option to turn Audio Description (AD) on or off.
- Option to turn Second Audio Program (SAP) on or off.
- Option to turn Closed Captioning (CC) on or off.
- Video playback controls (play, pause, rewind, fast forward).
You can now turn voice guidance on with voice control — press and hold the voice control button on your Voice Remote and say "voice guidance." The voice control button is the third button up from the OK button in the center of the Voice Remote. It is a slightly indented rectangle. Once voice guidance is activated, follow the spoken instructions.
The following enhancements have been made to the X1 Playback Controls, which appear when you press the down arrow key on your Voice Remote control while watching full-screen video:
- When fast-forwarding and rewinding video, you will now hear the selected speed announced.
- After resuming playback, you will hear a time stamp of where you currently are in the program.
- The Playback Controls timeout has been increased to 10 seconds.
- You'll have enough time to hear the entire voice guidance message before the Playback Controls fade and return you to full-screen video.
- Voice guidance now announces the state of Accessibility features like Audio Description and Closed Captioning.
- For example, "Audio Description – On" will now be announced.
- Voice guidance now announces the "jump back" and "skip ahead" functionality as well.
In addition, voice guidance is now compatible with Highlights mode for completed X1 DVR recordings of live sporting events. If highlights are available and enabled, you will hear a brief introductory message explaining how to use the feature and a brief description for each highlight included in the recorded sporting event.
Known issues and limitations
If spoken on-screen notifications become bothersome, you can prevent these from appearing by visiting Settings > Preferences > Notifications. Try turning off all notifications or only certain types of notifications, such as those related to Xfinity Voice, Xfinity TV, updates and offers, or other services.
Other general known issues related to the latest version of the talking guide include:
- The Playback Controls bar, which appears when you press the down button while watching full-screen video, does not include orienting instructions such as, "Press left or right to explore options."
- Voice guidance is currently not compatible with Surround Sound audio.
- Note: If Surround Sound is enabled, voice guidance may repeat initial instructions and the On/Off notification after the feature is enabled and again when the "Surround Sound Off" notification is dismissed.
Additional information
Visit our Online Support Center to find common solutions.
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