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How to enable text-to-speech using Audio Guide
How to enable text-to-speech using Audio Guide
M
Written by Malimar
Updated over a week ago

Background

Audio Guide is a text-to-speech screen reader that assists Roku users with navigation of the Roku® user interface and on-screen menus. When activated, Audio Guide will read out text, menu items and other on-screen items.

On what products is Audio Guide available?

Audio Guide and related features are available on the following products.
(Audio Guide is currently only available in U.S.)

  • Roku Streaming Stick® (Model 3600)

  • Roku Express (Model 3700)

  • Roku Express+ (Model 3710)

  • Roku Premiere (Model 4620)

  • Roku Premiere+ (Model 4630)

  • Roku Ultra (Model 4640)

  • Roku TVs

If you have one of the above models and do not find the Audio Guide feature, please do a manual software update.

Is Audio Guide available during setup of my Roku device?

During setup of your Roku streaming player or Roku TV™

Audio Guide will be available on the Language screen, which is the first screen you will see after you connect your Roku device. To turn on Audio Guide on this screen, press the

button on your remote four times. If you have an Enhanced “point anywhere” remote, you must first pair your remote to connect the remote to your Roku player. If you cannot control your Roku device, learn what to do if you are having problems with your remote.

How do I enable Audio Guide on the Roku device?

Audio Guide can be turned on or off by pressing the

asterisk

button on the Roku remote four times quickly.

asterisk

The button is located below and to the right of the directional pad on the Roku remote. The directional pad is plus-shaped and is in the center of the remote.

How do I navigate the Roku interface using Audio Guide?

When Audio Guide is turned on, it will read the name of the current screen, your location on the screen, identify prime actionable elements, and describe options available to you. For example, on the home screen, if the readout is “In home, My Channels, button, 1 of 8” it means, you are on the home screen; the highlighted item is My Channels, and it is identified as a button because it is an actionable item. 1 of 8 indicates My Channel is in position 1 of 8 items in a list. You can navigate through this menu by clicking up or down. Clicking

OK

on your remote will take you into the My Channels screen.

OK

is situated at the center of the directional pad on your remote.

Please note, there are a few instances when items are arranged in a grid; e.g. in My Channels, the channels that you have installed are arranged in a grid with three channels in a row. In that case, Audio Guide will read out “In My Channels, Netflix, button, 1 of 15, in a grid”. You can navigate using the right and left buttons on the directional pad of your remote. These channels are arranged in the order in which they were installed. However, you can rearrange the order of the channels by moving them.

How do I change the Audio Guide settings?

You can customize your Audio Guide experience by going to Settings, then Accessibility, and then Audio Guide. The various configurations available to you are as follows:

  • Audio Guide On/Off

    • Turn Audio Guide on or off. This is the same as pressing

      asterisk

      four times.

  • Speech Rate

    • Speech rate allows you to customize the speed at which Audio Guide reads out text. There are four speech rate settings – Slow, Normal, Fast, Very Fast. When you navigate to a particular setting, Audio Guide will give you a sample of how it will sound at that speed. To select a specific speech rate, you must click

      OK

      on your remote.

  • Volume

    • Allows you to change the volume of Audio Guide with respect to the TV volume.

  • Shortcut

    • When the Audio Guide shortcut is enabled, you can quickly press

      asterisk

      four times to turn Audio Guide on or off from any screen. When the shortcut is disabled, pressing the

      asterisk

      button on your remote four times will not turn on Audio Guide.

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