Closed captions?!?!

Channels Apple TV
#1

WTF - the only thread I can find is from two years ago that references a language button in the Apple TV app that shows no where on the Apple TV channels App now that I can find.

I search the help and it turns up a page that I have to expand a bunch of the collapsed sections before I can search on the text in the page to find the phrase closed captions. Which is in a section on the Remote settings in the Channel app on the Apple TV where you can set the Siri remote to mute with closed captions when you shake the remote. I thought fine - I'll shake with the siri remote to mute and at least get the freaking closed captions to turn on and then unmute with another remote - except it doesn't work.

I feel like I am being trolled - there seriously isn't a way to just turn closed captions on or off while you are watching a show?!?! I hope someone can point to something hopefully REALLY stupid I'm missing here since closed captions is pretty basic functionality.

Please?

#2

Bring down the Quick Guide while watching a program. By default it shows the info for the current program and what is airing on others. If you press Up, you will be able to switch from "Info" to "Language". On the Language tab, you can enable closed captions.

#3

OK, finally found it - you have to access the quick bar (swipe or click down while watching a show) and then in there you can set the closed captions.

Phew!

It would be REALLY nice if in the support articles there was an article just on closed captions that focused on showing the quick bar, then navigating to the settings to enable. Closed Captions are pretty basic and important to a lot of people and for them to be buried in the middle of a support article where you have to backtrack to figure out what the heck the section on closed captions is talking about is pretty newbie/non-techie unfriendly.

#4

Bring down the Quick Guide while watching a program.

Yeah, how the hell is a new user supposed to know what that is? Thanks - I did finally figure it out after parsing more of the online help but good god was that painful and not at all obvious in the support articles for what should be a pretty essential function.

#5

In the Live TV article in the App Usage section there is a whole part dedicated to this:

#6

In the Live TV article in the App Usage section there is a whole part dedicated to this:

Yes, and I eventually found it buried in the middle of that article. But then you have to manually figure out what the hell the Quick Bar is after you find out that the toggle for closed captions is inside this "Quick Bar" thing.

And now it's no big deal - I know what a quick bar is. But before you know what a Quick Bar is, it's just another thing you now have to figure out when all you really want is to see the closed captions!

It is far from discoverable, and the way the help is structured if all I'm trying to do is quickly figure out how to enable closed captions because I have a room full of people - it fails miserably at that.

Yes, I was able to figure it out after parsing through a few different search results until landing on the Live TV page and then having to parse three different sections of that page - working backwards from finding closed captions after searching for text within a REALLY large page full of all kinds of info. At least it wasn't filled with a bunch of collapsed sections so there is that I suppose.

It would be a huge help if they could ALSO have a page that is surfaced first in search (something any decent search engine should be able to do - pin key pages to key search terms) that just lays out ONLY what is needed to quickly turn on closed captions:

To toggle closed captions On or Off

  1. While watching the program, swipe or click down to reveal the Quick Bar
  2. Swipe right or right click to expose the Options
  3. Swipe down or click down to enter the options then swipe left or click left to Closed Captions.
  4. Select On or Off as desired.

That's it. Some screen shots at each step, not overly cropped so that people - especially new people to software - have context for what you are trying to tell/show them. Yeah, now that I have it figured out it is "simple". But it feels anything but simple for someone unfamiliar with Channels.

Want to make the software more accessible to new users - especially ones not overly technical? You have to chunk stuff up and be more specific. Don't weave multiple topics together as your only documentation. Fully leverage features in search software to deliver people to just what they need and nothing more as the first result for basic, common, heavily used things like closed captions.

Yes, technically the Live TV page is sufficient - all the info is there if you are willing to backtrack and connect the dots. Is that really welcoming to everyone?

2 Likes
#7

You should see the clock thread :rofl: