In this blog, you learn How to Turn Off Narrator on a Roku streaming device or TV. You always use a remote shortcut or just disable the feature from the ‘Accessibility’ settings. In addition, Roku channels also offer audio-guided content as well; you can turn it off or on if you want during playback or from the app settings itself.
What you should know
- You just need to quickly press the ‘Star’ button about four times in a row to disable or enable narration.
- You can turn the ‘Audio Guide’ off or on from ‘Settings > Accessibility > Audio Guide’ in other versions it might be ‘Settings > Accessibility > Screen Reader’.
- To turn the remote shortcut off you should go to ‘Settings > Accessibility > Audio Guide > Shortcut > Disabled’ or on some devices, it may be ‘Settings > Accessibility > Shortcut > Disabled’.
How do I Turn Off Narrator on a Roku device?
Now if you accidentally turned on the Roku narrator which is also known as the Roku Audio Guide then you have two options where you can disable this feature such as mentioned below.
1) Using the Roku Remote Shortcut
Do you know that the fastest option to turn off narration on the Roku is to simply press the ‘Star’ button that is on your remote four times in quick succession? After which you should hear the message ‘Audio Guide disabled’ confirming narration is off.
Now before you try this shortcut you will need to make sure that it has been enabled;
- You would need to start by going to ‘Settings > Accessibility’.
- And then you should look for the ‘Audio Guide’ option in the ‘Accessibility’ menu.
TIP: On some other Roku versions this step might be unnecessary.
- Next, you will need to select the ‘Shortcut’ option and toggle the selection from ‘Disabled’ to ‘Enable’.
TIP: In case continuously pressing the ‘Star’ button doesn’t work out or your remote is unresponsive, then you can look up the guide to ‘Fix Roku remote’ issues.
2) Using Roku Accessibility Settings
You also have the option to Turn Off Narrator on a Roku device from the ‘Accessibility’ section.
- First of all, from the Roku Home screen, you got to go to ‘Settings > Accessibility’.
- After that, right under ‘Audio Guide’ you need to select the ‘Audio Guide or Screen reader’ option.
- You now need to highlight ‘Off’ to disable this feature.
Why Is Roku Narrating Movies?
You should know that the Roku Audio Guide describes Roku system interactions (the location on your screen, channel names, etc) and navigation items that are within the apps.
Now this text-to-speech feature on Roku does not include video narration. Therefore if you are hearing descriptions of scenes and actions in movies or TV shows then you may have enabled an audio description track for that specific program.
How to Turn Off Descriptive Audio in Roku?
Now if you do not want to hear scene narration, then you can check and change the audio track selection during playback in the app itself.
NOTE: However, you must also know that not all titles across streaming platforms come with description audio. So if you do not see other audio options then this means that guided audio is not available to turn on or off in the app.
To be able to find this feature from the audio/language or accessibility settings on Roku apps with descriptive audio you will need to follow these steps below;
- Max (formerly HBO Mac) – You need to start watching something and then press the ‘Play/Pause’ button on your Roku remote. Next, you should move down and choose the speech bubble. Then under the ‘Audio’ section, you need to select a language and then just press the ‘Back’ button to save the changes.
- Hulu – you have to press the ‘Up’ button on your Roku remote > select Settings > Audio. Now change the language to the original language without the audio description.
- Netflix – you need to press the ‘Down’ button on the remote to view the language options box. Next, you just need to change the selection from ‘Language – Audio Description’ to a language without any narration.
- Prime Video > Here you need to press the ‘Up’ button on your Roku remote > Audio & Language> and then just choose the available language without an audio description.
- Apple TV – You got to go to ‘Settings > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions’ and then select the ‘Off’ button.
TIP: In case changing audio tracks does not turn off narration then you may need to update or remove and then reinstall the channel on your Roku.
How to Turn Off Video Description on Your Roku?
Well, if you are using a cable TV source with your Roku TV or player and you notice the video description feature on TV shows and movies then you can turn off the ‘Secondary Audio Programming’ (SAP) settings. For example;
- On Xfinity X1 – you will need to choose ‘Device Settings > Languages > Audio Language (SAP) Reset’.
- With Spectrum TV for Roku – you will need to open the app with the Roku remote and then go to ‘Settings > Preferences > Audio Language (SAP).
But if you are using a non-Roku smart TV, then you may also want to check the SAP preferences on your device. You can look up this feature in the ‘Audio or Accessibility’ area of your TV settings.
We hope that you find this blog useful and now you can easily manage your Roku device and remote. However, if you face any difficulty then you can always feel free to get in touch with the team of experts at any time. They will surely assist with absolutely suitable appropriate solutions right away.
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