Hi, so looking at sky there has been the introduction of audio description on some titles when recorded on ones sky q box and viewed through sky go. There do seem to be a series of settings you need to engage, audio description on the IOS device in accessibility settings and, for some bizarre reason, turn on subtitles... Which is stupid as it will just annoy any fellow sighted house members.
Anyone had any experience with this? Seems very convoluted and not very well thought out.
Comments
Works for me
Hi. It works great for me. I don’t have subtitles enabled. I simply have audio description turned on on the sky Q box and then when I play back recordings, the audio description is present. I also don’t think it matters whether you have audio description turned on under accessibility on the phone or not as it will simply play what is recorded on the box. Where did you see that you needed subtitles turned on as I’m positive that’s not correct. The only thing I would point out, is make sure that you start playback of the recording from within the recordings section and that you’re not inadvertently downloading the same program through the TV Guide or on demand as that content will not have audio description.
This is according to this
This is according to this page:
https://www.sky.com/help/articles/enabling-audio-description
Saying:
Turning on AD on Sky Go
AD is currently only available on some recordings in the Sky Go iOS app for our Sky Q customers.
To watch a recording with AD in the Sky Go app (iOS only):
Make sure subtitles are enabled on your Sky Q box
Open Settings on your Apple device
On iOS 12 or older, select General then Accessibility. On iOS 13, select Accessibility from the main Settings screen
Select Audio Description and switch the option On
Record the AD programmes on your Sky Q box
Open Sky Go and select the Recordings tab at the bottom of the screen
Select and play the recorded programme
Key Information
Audio Description is now available on recordings in the Sky Go app. It’s not available on Sky Kids app or live Sky Go app content, or on the On Demand or Sky Store sections of the set top box.
---
Which is what I want otherwise one has to have audio description perpetually on on the main box which is no good in a mixed ability household... Did I just make up that term?
Talking to sky on twitter they said subtitles need to be on to activate the audio description that is on the Q box so it would seem that this is the quietest way of getting audio description working in the sky go app though requires for subtitles to be perpetually on, for some strange and convoluted reason.
Error
Hi Oliver. The reference to subtitles in that article is an error, it should of course say Audio Description. That’s our bad, the result of a copy and paste from an equivalent article on subtitles which was written at the same time. I’ll get it fixed.
Ah ha!
Ah, I thought that might be the case. Just to confirm, audio description has to be on on the sky Q box for recordings to play with audio description? That would make sense as I guess we're live streaming from the sky q box.
The ideal would to be able to have independence from the sky q box regarding audio description like the sky q mini box does. Failing that, it would be good to be able to turn AD on and off remotely from the IOS application.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Thanks for your reply.
Yes
Hi Oliver. Yes that's right.
Indeed, we do hope to expand our audio description capabilities further in the future, but are glad to be able too offer this level of support at least now.
Thanks
Well, thank you for the improvement. Still far from ideal, but moving in the right direction to come in line with other media providers. :)
Ant update on when sky go Or…
Any update on when sky go Or now tv will get audio description? it’s the only catch up streaming service without it still
I've heard nothing
I've heard nothing. Really we could argue that we are forced to buy sky Q, a more expensive proposition, purely because there is no audio description on the Now TV package which, I'd suggest, isn't above board. I'm sure they'll get around to it. My dealings with sky over the last couple of years have reassured me that they are on the case for inclusivity.
Yes, as someone who lives in…
Yes, as someone who lives in a household with people who don’t use audio description, there’s no real solution besides constantly turning AD on before a recording occurs.
My sincerest wish is that…
My sincerest wish is that applications that can provide personal audio description gain traction in the future. I know that there are actually two types of audio broadcast, one has two tracks, one with the standard audio and another with audio description mixed in. The other type still has two audio tracks but the audio description is actually mixed on the device into the main audio track which, in theory, allows for just the audio description to be piped to something like a bone conduction headset, so similar to the experience at a cinema, if you remember those... Sigh.