Until now, the only accessible way for someone to stream video content directly to his/her TV was by using the Apple TV which came with Apple’s VoiceOver screen reader. That however has changed with the introduction of Google’s Nexus Player. The Nexus Player is a small circular device that can connect to any TV via an HDMI cable and stream audio and video content from many popular services such as Netflix and Pandora with new services being added every day. Someone who is blind or visually impaired has full access to the device by turning on TalkBack which is Google’s equivalent to Apple’s VoiceOver.


Although turning on the accessibility features does require sighted assistance initially, once turned on a blind or visually impaired user is able to easily use the simple remote to control the device with full spoken feedback. Unlike the Apple TV the Nexus Player allows for the user to dictate using a microphone built into the remote. This voice control allows for one to open apps and play music without having to enter text using the on screen keyboard. Whether you are a fan of Google or not, it is wonderful to have another option to stream audio and video to one’s TV and the Nexus Player has come out just in time for the Holidays and costs just $99!