YouView's latest software update includes a series of features delivering improved accessibility for blind and partially sighted customers as well as viewers with motor and cognitive impairments. Susie Buckridge, director of product at YouView takes The latest software update, released on December 3, 2013, comes with a new zoom function which lets you interact with the YouView menus while the screen is enlarged and support for USB keyboards, such as the Monster 2 and Clevy, featured here. As well as this, YouView demonstrates a proof of concept where a YouView box is controlled with an Xbox 360 controller connected to a Raspberry Pi. This isn't a feature that is officially supported by the latest update but showcases the avenues YouView's developers are exploring. Finally we take a look at the Grid 2 software, which has mapped the functions of the YouView remote to a Windows program which can be controlled using switches and head pointers. Support for voice actions on iOS and Android mobile apps, demonstrated in this video, was developed in association with the RNIB and was released earlier this year. A new high contrast option, designed to make text on the YouView menus easier to scan, was also launched in September 24, 2013.

• published: 10 Dec 2013
• views: 144