Using Earcatch with
TVNZ+
What is Earcatch?
Earcatch is an app which you can download to
your smart phone platform - for apple or Android.
It will do the following: Audio description for cinema, theatre
and TV. Earcatch tells you what you can’t see!
To find out more about Earcatch, please go to the following
website at https://earcatch.eu/
Have a bit of a look around on the website and the frequently
asked questions should answer most of your questions.
The website should also direct you to a download of the app for
your device.
How do I use Earcatch and what
do I use it with?
After you have downloaded the app to your phone,
and have it setup, it will be broken into different categories. On
the main page there is a section called recently added. There will
be a list of shows there. Find one you want to listen to (such as
Duck Rockers), and go into that section. There will be a short
description on the show and some download links for each show.
Pick one (such as episode 1), then download it to your phone.
This might even appear in the different categories in the app.
You will either need wifi or data to do download the audio
description track to your device.
Data or wifi on your phone is not required now as Earcatch will
work offline.
Where to go to (TVNZ+) so you
can hear the show audio described
You will need to go to the following website at
TVNZ Plus at https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows
and sign into the TVNZ Plus website. If you have not got an
account you will need to sign up for one and then verify the email
account used.
When you have verified your account, and then signed into TVNZ
Plus, you will then need to double click (or press the Enter key)
on your account graphic/link. There should only be the one there.
The next page it takes you to, will give you the sections (below)
and more.
Before we look at the different sections below... you can jump
around the different sections with the letter H for headings, K
for links, and to go through the show/movies on the main page the
letter G for graphics (if using a screen reader - such has NVDA).
Interacting with the web player
To interact with the player when it starts
playing a show/movie, use the Ctrl + Home keys to get to the top
of the page, then use the letter O in NVDA for embedded objects.
The following keys are used in the web player when it appears: Tab
or Shift/Tab, Spacebar or the Enter key, along with arrow keys.
There will be different sections like: What's new, Trending,
Drama, Movies, Local, Documentary, Comedy, Reality, Sport
Documentaries, Factual, News & Current Affairs, Te Ao Māori,
British & Irish Drama, Foreign Language, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,
Horror, True Crime, Natural World, Home & Living, Music,
Sustainability, Food, Popular, Preschool, Kids, Full Seasons, and
much more.
Have a browse around to see what is there.
Search link
At present, the screen reader does not speak the
search link; but if you have a little sight, it is a picture of a
magnifying glass; or if using a screen reader, use Ctrl + Home to
get to the top of the page, use the letter G to jump down by
graphics until you hear your profile (for example Me). Press the
letter G a few more times until you get to the second mention of
your name, then arrow down a couple more times until you hear NVDA
say link. Press the Enter key on it, and this will take you to the
search page which comes up next.
I have contacted TVNZ plus, to hopefully fix this problem for
screen reader users, as it is an unlabled link or graphic at
present. It just needs to be labled!
To quickly find a show, locate the search link, then press the
Enter key. On the next page (for example) type in Duck Rockers,
and it will bring up a list of results.
The show should show up in the list provided.
It will give you a brief outline of the actors etcetera.
Locate the section for episodes, then press the Enter key.
Next, locate the first episode then start playing it. All the
buttons in the player are labled correctly and the show should
play automatically.
Next back in the Earcatch app, you will need to get the app to
start listening to the episode that you are watching. Shortly
after, you should hear the audio description track coming out of
your phone. If you do not want any one else to hear it, you can
use a pair of ear phones.
Using Earcatch with Google Home
For this to work with Google home, you must have
a TVNZ Plus account (that is linked under services in the Google
home app), along with a Google smart speaker and Chromecast, as
well as the Earcatch app set up on your device.
In the Earcatch app, you will need to download the audio described
track to your device (for example Duck Rockers and which episode
of Duck Rockers that you would like to listen to).
Next, say to your smart speaker "play (the name of the show and
which episode you have chosen) from (TVNZ on demand ...or
TVNZ Plus) on the TV (that you specified). This is the name of
your Chromecast. For example you could say "play Duck Rockers
Episode 1 from TVNZ Plus on Living Room TV".
When it starts playing on your TV, start playing the Duck Rockers
episode that matches with what you are watching. It will then
start listening and shortly afterwards you will hear the audio
description track coming out of your phone.
The only time it might change a little is if there are more
seasons of the show. In this case you could say "play (the name of
the show) Season 2 Episode 1 from TVNZ Plus on Living Room TV".
Casting TVNZ Plus to the big
screen via Chromecast
Download the audio description track (of the
show you want) to your device.
If you also have a desktop computer or laptop with the Google
browser, and you want the show/movie from TVNZ Plus on the big
screen; if you have a Chromecast - you can cast from your
computer/laptop to the Chromecast.
The steps basically are: locate the cast menu in Google chrome,
choose the Chromecast you want it to go to, and shortly after it
will appear on the big screen. (This is while you are logged in to
the TVNZ + website).
Then on your device, in Earcatch (with the show you want audio
described) get it to start listening to what is being broadcasted.
If the audio description track says "Duck Rockers episode 1" then
it must line up with "Duck Rockers episode 1 on TVNZ Plus", then
get Earcatch to listen, then shortly afterwrds it will come out of
your phone.
Please note:
The audio description track that you download
from Earcatch (for example Duck Rockers episode 1) must line
up with the TVNZ Plus episode of Duck Rockers episode 1. You will
need to pause it on the phone when there is an advertisement, and
then play it again, in order to get it to listen again (once the
show starts back up) to keep it synchronized.