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Comcast announces talking TV guide for vision-impaired

Blind Comcast Corp. TV executive Tom Wlodkowski says the company's talking TV guide for the visually impaired will go live on the nation's largest cable TV system by Dec. 1.

Comcast's Tom Wlodkowski, who is blind, demonstrates the talking TV channel guide, which the cable company expects to make available next year. It is part of a project to make products more accessible to customers with disabilities. CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
Comcast's Tom Wlodkowski, who is blind, demonstrates the talking TV channel guide, which the cable company expects to make available next year. It is part of a project to make products more accessible to customers with disabilities. CHARLES FOX / Staff PhotographerRead more
    by Bob Fernandez, Inquirer Staff Writer
    Published 

Blind Comcast Corp. TV executive Tom Wlodkowski says the company's talking TV guide for the visually impaired will go live on the nation's largest cable TV system by Dec. 1.

The talking guide, still in its beta phase, can be accessed by Xfinity subscribers on the company's X1 set-top boxes.

There are five million X1 set-top boxes in American homes, and Comcast is switching out older boxes for X1s throughout its cable TV franchise areas.

Of about 22 million Xfinity TV subscribers, 600,000 to 700,000 could be classified as blind or visually impaired, based on national statistics.

The talking guide announces current TV listings, on-demand offerings, and DVR functions.

Comcast announced in 2013 it was developing the talking guide. Wlodkowski, vice president of accessibility, heads the project and works out of a special lab in the Comcast Center to develop products for those with disabilities.

He recently demonstrated the talking guide, which mostly worked as advertised, though it had a glitch in the movies section. Brian Roberts, Comcast chairman and chief executive officer, announced that the talking guide was released to the public at a conference in Silicon Valley on Wednesday.

For help with the talking guide or other accessibility issues, call Comcast at 855-270-0379, or send e-mail to accessibility@comcast.com.