By: Frank Engelman | Posted: August 6, 2020 | Updated: April 19, 2023
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The Problem to be Solved
Hearing Challenges and Video Calls
Some people with hearing issues find video calls challenging because they can’t always make out what people are saying. We wanted solutions that could help with that.
There is a little-known solution to this problem called Descriptive Audio. Descriptive Audio provides professional narration of the scene. It is available on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
Here is a YouTube video showing Descriptive Audio in action.
Please note that not ALL videos have this feature
Descriptive Audio is available on both Netflix and Amazon Prime. The setup is a little different on each of them.
Amazon Prime (Using the Amazon remote control)
Push Home
Scroll across to Settings and push the Select button
Scroll down and over to Accessibility and push the Select button
Scroll down to Audio Descriptions and push the Select button
Turn it on for Prime Video
Push the Home button
Disable Autoplay
Special Bonus feature: If you hate the way that videos start playing when you are just browsing through a list, here is a way to disable it.
Push Home
Scroll across to Settings and push the Select button
Scroll down and over to Preferences and push the Select button
Scroll down to Featured Content and push the Select button
Turn off both Allow Video Autoplay and Allow Audio Autoplay
Push Home
Netflix (Using the remote control you use for Netflix)
This setting is required on a video-by-video basis or a video series
Start playing a video and then pause it
Scroll up to the Audio & Subtitles icon
If it’s available, enable.
Remember, this will only apply to this show or this TV series
Disable Autoplay
Special Bonus feature: If you hate the way that videos start playing when you are just browsing through a list, here is a way to disable it.
You will be required to open Netflix in a web browser
Login and go to your account
Pick your profile
Scroll down and play payback settings and click Change
Uncheck the Autoplay settings
Try it out on your next Netflix session.
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Retired Intel Engineer wanting to share DIY technology tips for the children of parents wanting to remain living independently. I like posting ideas and answering technical questions. If a product or software has an issue making it hard for seniors to use, I try to offer workarounds and also try to contact the manufacturer for solutions. I write a column for this website in the Innovation- Homebrew Solutions & Ideas section
