At Virgin Media, we think everyone should be able to access the best telly, no matter their level of sight or hearing.

We know some of our customers are blind, partially sighted or struggle to see or read the TV Guide. You might be Deaf/deaf, hard of hearing or simply find it difficult to hear the TV. Or maybe you know someone who’d really benefit from accessible telly, so they can fully enjoy their favourite entertainment.

That’s why we’ve made these features easier to find and use. Read on to learn more about the features we’ve designed to help people with sight and hearing loss get the most from Virgin TV.

Here are some handy hints to help you make the most of our Accessibility features so you can get full enjoyment out of your Virgin TV service, including walkthrough guides for customers experiencing hearing and sight loss. 

Our new Accessibility settings

We’ve rolled out a new feature designed to make it easier for customers experiencing sight or hearing loss to use Virgin TV 360 and Stream.

All you have to do is navigate to Settings using the remote for your Virgin TV 360 or Stream box. You can do this in one of two ways:

1. Using the remote control, press the Home button. Then go to Settings > Accessibility

2. Use Voice Control to jump straight in. Press the microphone button on your remote control and say “Settings” or “Accessibility”

Both routes will take you to our new Accessibility settings. This is where you’ll find all Virgin TV service’s Accessibility features in one place – made to support people who are experience sight and/or hearing loss.

For our customers experiencing sight loss

Here’s a full run-down of all the features you’ll find in our Accessibility settings, designed to help you navigate channels with ease and enjoy your favourite telly if you’re experiencing sight loss.

Voiceover Guidance: A voice will simply read out channel and programme details on your Guide and in the Channel Bar.

Audio Description: If you can’t see your screen very well, audio description will transform the way you watch TV. A voice will read out what’s happening on the screen, so you’ll never miss important things like facial expressions, body language and movements on screen – they will all be described in detail.

High Contrast UI: Need help reading content on the screen? This feature makes text more distinct and identifiable. Turn on the high contrast setting, and content will be clearer for you.

Enlarged TV Guide: Struggling to read your TV guide because the text is too small? The Enlarged TV Guide feature will just be right for you. It zooms in to make images and text more easily identifiable and legible.  

Prefer a video? Then follow these walkthrough guides.

For our customers experiencing hearing loss

These features can be found in our Accessibility settings, and should improve your experience of watching TV if you’re experiencing hearing loss.

Subtitles: If you need any help understanding what’s being said or to identify specific sounds, subtitles will be available for you if they are offered by content providers.

Sign Language: Need sign language support? Look for the sign language logo on the Guide and in the detail page – it means that accompanying sign language is available for a TV programme or film.

Again, if you prefer a video, we have a walkthrough guide for you.

How to turn on these features

It’s easy to enable these features on your box by following these steps:

1. Press the Home button on the TV box remote.

2. Press the left arrow button three times, followed by OK. This will take you to the Settings menu. 

3. Press the right arrow button once to get to the Accessibility settings.

4. In the Accessibility menu, use the on/off command to activate or deactivate the features you want.

If you find it hard to see your screen, voice control can help make a positive difference to the way you control and navigate our TV guides and menus. Simply use your remote to give voice commands to perform an action. For example, saying “Turn on High Contrast” or “Turn on Subtitles” into your remote will launch this feature.

For more information about our other Accessibility services including extra support, visit our Accessibility site.