Topic by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-12 11:04:38

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For those interested in getting their hands on the New Xbox One Experience (NXOE), here's some more information about the release schedule

Unfortunately, there's been no conclusive word from the tech giant about accessibility features, however, in a conversation with a Killer Instinct player from Canada, we discovered that the Narrator feature wasn't present.  Though whether that's because the NXOE was still in preview at that point, we can't be sure.

To be honest, I look forward to seeing Narrator even if not everyone can get their hands on it personally at launch.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
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Reply by ianhamilton_ 2015-11-12 14:49:05

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Details on narrator are here, although they are pretty light:

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one … n-xbox-one

Also if you look at the US ease of access page, narrator is listed:

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one … s-settings

But on the UK ease of access page, narrator is not listed:

https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one … s-settings

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Reply by aaron 2015-11-12 15:29:48

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Hello,
Thanks for the info. I must admit I did wonder if this might happen, it being the US law and such, so I'm not too surprised.
However, I really do hope that this will be added in the future much like they did with windows phone, especially as windows 10 definitely has uk sapi voices.

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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-12 15:55:31

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@Ianhamilton_
Thanks for the info, seems like the folks over at Microsoft haven't been gracious enough to give that info out themselves.  At least someone's on the case.

I understand they need to get the feature out to the US to comply with the laws etc, but the fact of the matter is in order to really trump Sony they could've launched it worldwide.  I don't see why it's that difficult.  After all, they had the code in there from the beginning and I@m not sure what they're working on that means they've had to pull it...

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Reply by MasterChief 2015-11-12 16:27:14

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Hi,
yes, me and my sister were trying to launch it to see how it works on my XBox1, well the bad news that I only found those options:
Magnifier
Closed captions
High contrast
Button mapping.
So, no Narrator.
Even that I expected that just to not get excited for nothing, I still couldn't believe it when I saw that Narrator didn't make it for other than the US people.
I mean come on, windows has Narrator, windows phone has Narrator, what makes Xbox different in terms of the accessibility options?

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Reply by death_rattlehead 2015-11-13 04:19:25

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Here's my xbox new experience overview!

I basically cover how to toggle narrator on, discuss how some of the differences between the PS and xbox1 and how now we can actually send invites via a game unlike the PS4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSpP057 … e=youtu.be

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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-13 09:20:35 (edited by Sightless Kombat 2017-11-20 11:37:39)

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Thanks for posting this. I've already watched it and I can safely say it'll be even better once it comes to worldwide markets.  That's the next thing, as well as achievements and twitch access, that I think we should push for - gamers with no or low vision have every right to be able to see what they've "achieved" and to show that to the world if they wish, regardless of where they're from.  Moreover, for those who are wondering, if you're in a "narrator supported region" (just a term I've thought up as I've written this), if you have a kinect and say "Xbox, turn on Narrator" then you should be able to get it working.  Alternatively, as death_rattlehead states, you could just press and hold the xbox button then whilst holding it press menu and it should work.

I hope I got that shortcut right, but if I didn't please feel free to clarify how it works...

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
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Reply by assault_freak 2015-11-13 10:38:23

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Well it definitely sounds like there's a good haul of accessibility in the latest update! Though since the xbox1 is basically based off Windows 10, I'm not entirely surprised... it's definitely good to see, even if my personal preference for Sony consoles is still there. I don't have much of an insentive to get an xbox 1, as the accessibility isn't quite worth the money I'd spend... but it's definitely a great thing to see!

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Reply by FabiG94 2015-11-13 11:47:33

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Hello
this is great!
One question, someone could try Narrator works in others countries  apart of USA?
greetings and thanks.

sorry my english, is not my native language.

FabiG94's Website

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Reply by ianhamilton_ 2015-11-13 15:07:59

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@fabig94 it doesn't

Although I had an interesting question from @sightless about what happened with windows phone's narrator launch.. I did a bit of digging on waybackmachine and it looks like mobile narrator launched in the USA only at first, and then had other countries added in later.

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Reply by queenslight 2015-11-13 17:41:30 (edited by queenslight 2015-11-13 17:50:02)

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Here's the only article i found from an accessibility view of Windows 10 Mobile so far:

https://www.coolblindtech.com/latest-wi … k-screens/

Ah, getting back to the XBox1 side of things, have a look at the following two web pages:

http://majornelson.com/

, and

http://www.brandoncole.net/?p=221

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Reply by SLJ 2015-11-13 18:10:16

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Hi.
Thanks a ton for posting this great video with the demonstration of how Narrator works.
I have two questions:
1: It would be nice if you can check if all settings, I mean every single setting in the settings menu, supmenus and everything is read by Narrator? I'm asking  because of us who live alone and don't have someone to ask if we need to change some of the settings.
2: I hear that the XBox have a tv section as well where you can watch tv on the XBox and record from the channels etc. Is this section usable in any ways?
I am so mad about Sony and Microsoft that they don't make this available outside the US, so for me, there is no point in getting an XBox regarding to accessibility, but I'm still following this with huge interest.

Best regards SLJ.
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Reply by SLJ 2015-11-13 18:14:31

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Hi again.
You can download Brandon Coles Narrator demonstration at the following link:
https://api.spreaker.com/download/episo … r_demo.mp3

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-13 18:25:25

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@Trenton Goldshark
Just wondering if you could give a direct link to whatever post you wanted to refer to on majornelson.com as his content changes so regularly?

Regards,
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Reply by queenslight 2015-11-13 21:11:04

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sadly, nope.
Mainly just stay tuned to that site for xbox 1 updates.

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Reply by FabiG94 2015-11-13 23:46:47

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hello
thanks ianhamilton, you are right.
We can only expect more news.
greetings.

sorry my english, is not my native language.

FabiG94's Website

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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-14 22:41:42

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After a few speculations from myself and Aaron and a trial from me, we can confirm that Narrator is available outside U.S Markets.  You simply change your region and language to U.S. english and the feature, somewhat unsprurisingly, becomes available.

It works very well considering this is an initial release and apparently according to death_rattlehead, achievements are readable if you have a keyboard, though I have yet to test this myself.

Regards,
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Reply by aaron 2015-11-15 02:34:50

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Hello,
I can also confirm this, and it really does make me wonder why Microsoft can't just put Narrator in the initial release even with a US voice. I'm definitely impressed with it though, being able to start a party and invite sightless kombat without sighted help really was awesome.

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Reply by ianhamilton_ 2015-11-15 05:51:23

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Yeah keyboard is the recommended way to use it, I think there's some stuff that can only be done with keyboard isn't there? Like adjusting voice speed on the fly?

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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-15 11:05:03

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I haven't looked at how to change settings without a keyboard, but since I have one, I@ll also look at whether changing voice speed improves performance, which is perhaps a possibility.  If I find a way to change voice speed with a controller, I@ll be sure to post it here.

Maybe a petition to Microsoft and emails to the XAccess team would be of use here to try and push for an initial release, or at the very least a word on why they haven't released it in non-U.S. markets yet?

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
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Reply by Exodus 2015-11-15 14:22:17

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It's nice to know we can get this in the UK even if their is a bit of buggering about to get it working. I think this is down to xbox live being the same worldwide instead of being split into 3 different  entities. I think Sony is using information derived from what server you connect to prove your location. Apple does this with the Apple TV to stop apps like HULU from loading on UK apple TVs even if you change your region and language settings. I meant to get a router in, flash it with DD-RWT and run the entire connection through a US VPN. I forgot all about it but I'm gonna go do that now. If that is what you have to do then just wow.  Microsoft are really starting to impress me with the xbox and i'm starting to regret not getting one now haha.

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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-15 15:00:17

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@Exodus
Way I see it is there's always Christmas, though me and others like me who weren't taken in by Sony's frankly poor (but still relatively interesting) attempt at a TTS initially can now benefit from all the new-fangled things that this narrator offers compared to its currently lagging rival.

Regards,
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Reply by SLJ 2015-11-17 10:44:01

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Wow. It's really great to know that you also can get Narrator to work outside the US.
I'm working on an extremely drastic way of trying to get the TTS on the ps4 to work otside the US as well. I haven't given up yet. smile

Best regards SLJ.
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Reply by assault_freak 2015-11-17 11:23:02

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Not trying to rain on the xbox parade here, because I'm starting to wish I'd gotten one now too... but I don't think post 22 was exactly fair, since narrator on windows has been around and in longer development than Sony's first attempt at a TTS on any playstation system. Frankly, party chat and messaging was about all I expected it to stay as... just like how Narrator took four versions of windows to become something that was more than barely adequate. lol Having said that, next time I'm at my cousins... it's off to bullying him into downloading the latest release. lol

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Reply by Sightless Kombat 2015-11-17 14:45:19 (edited by Sightless Kombat 2017-11-20 11:42:03)

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@assault_freak
I wasn't trying to be unfair, merely discussing the state of play as it stand currently.  if you compare what Narrator allows VS what Sony's offering (which needs a better name than TTS as well IMHO), it is clear to see, regardless of development time that Microsoft have managed to execute things far more in line with what me and others like me have asked of them.  Yes, there are things that don't read currently and yes, they've had longer to develop it, but Sony seems to have done quite a minimal effort, with areas that should theoretically be easier to make read still inaccessible.  But that's just my point of view and I realise that both sides have different situations for development.

But I have good news as well.  After prodding various individuals at Microsoft and elsewhere to try and assist in getting information about a worldwide release (with other individuals chipping in as well), I can now confirm that such a release is on the cards.  As to when, we don't know currently.  I've pasted the response below as proof, removing the names of the individuals who were replied to in the course of the conversation:
***response***
Don't know exactly when, but Narrator will definitely be supported outside of the US in future updates.
***end response***
For now, the workaround exists for those who are able to use it, but for those who aren't, be aware of two things: What did everyone do before narrator came along? (proved the console can be used without it...), and that it's only a matter of time until Narrator comes to the whole world.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
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