Apple TV or Roku for Sling TV?
Submitted by GitRDone on Wednesday, April 26, 2017.
Forum
tvOS & Apple TV Apps
Hey y'all, Forgive me if this isn't the right forum, but I've been contemplating either an Apple TV or Roku to watch Sling TV. As there is no dedicated forum for accessibility of Roku channels using Audio Guide, I was wondering if anyone recommends either device for accessibility as far as Sling is concerned. I might be an Apple person, but if the Roku accessibility of Sling is substantially better, I might pay the cheaper price for it than shell out $100+ for Apple TV.
Comments
Just be sure you choose the right roku
I don't watch Sling so can't help there. But wanted to advise that not all Roku models can read to you. I found out the hard way.
Sling
The Sling app isn't particularly fun to use with VO. Guide channel names aren't spoken, so you have to know that "12" is Comedy Central, etc., except when something weird happens and it's 13. On the "On Now" tab, the categories are not announced, so you have to count rows to know when you're on "everything on now" versus "sports," etc., and I actually haven't succeeded yet in even knowing which row is which.
The options to watch now or (when available) play from beginning are not spoken. Again, it's easy to know which is which with experience, but they're silent.
Worst of all, the Sling app turns my Apple TV remote into a possessed creature that runs amuck. It just doesn't work or behaves unpredictably at times. You also can't ff/rw while Voiceover is running, as far as I can tell.
On the Iphone, the app is worse.
I actually had a conversation with a Roku engineer a few months back. We talked about how they're working on a system-wide screen reader, but it didn't sound like it was a mature product yet. So, I'm surprised to hear that any of the Roku models talk already.