Senior friendly TV remote

senior
Contributor

When is BELL going to recognize the need for a senior friendly remote? The current model has both very small characters and buttons. It is very difficult to see numbers and manage buttons with arthritic fingers. Given the largest growing demographic is the senior population, providing a larger remote should definitely be a priority!

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Anyone know of a method, when entering a channel directly on the remote control, to increase the delay or pause time in between pressing the numbers before the bell Fibe decides all numbers have been pressed??  My senior family member is slow when directly entering 4 digit channel number and bell Fibe thinks she’s done after 2 or 3 digits.  Thanks.

AlexS
Expert Contributor II

Is she with the latest Voice Remote?

Lyphe
Contributor II

Hi,

Recently moved from Rogers and love the Bell TV service.  One thing I miss from the Rogers TV service though, are the back-lit remotes where you could see the buttons at night or in the dark watching a movie.  This has me wondering if there is a 'viable' universal remote option to use in place of the default Bell remote.  

I'd want to keep all voice and normal functionality, although I'm not sure if this exists.  Has anyone had luck finding something where you don't lose functionality and gain back-lighting?

Ty and cheers!

kle
Contributor

 I am going to buy the big flipper. I’m hoping that will work for my 80-year-old mother. Seniors are the biggest population in Canada and are probably the ones watching the most TV. Bell needs to service them better. 
I would also like them to be able to lock in my favorites. Having 200 channels is overwhelming. It took me two hours to set her favorites, but then she accidentally hits the guide and can’t get back into her of my favorites. I wish you could just work the settings to lock in the channels you want and that’s all they get. It is way too overwhelming for them.

WelshTerrier
Community All-Star
Community All-Star

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum

Thank you for reaching out in providing feedback & your suggestion for improving an area that would improvee viewing experience for Bell's senior customers.

The Bell Community is a place for you to ask questions, find answers and share your thoughts on all of Bell's products and services with other Bell customers like you. All ideas and solutions posted on this site are reviewed by Bell staff and are referred on to Bell's development team for future consideration. There are no bad ideas.

Depending on the remote that your mother is using, if by chance she should select the: All channels guide by accident, she can return to her Favourite lists.

On a Bluetooth Slim or Slim remote:

  1. Select > Options button on the remote control.
  2. Select > Favourite lists. Select > My Favourites.

On a Voice remote with Google Assistant, there are two ways to select or go back to your Favourite lists:

Method 1: via Viewing Options

  1. While watching live TV or viewing the GUIDE, press ENTER on your remote control.
  2. Select Favourite lists.
  3. Select desired list.

Method 2: via MENU

  1. Press MENU on the Fibe TV remote.
  2. Select Live TV > Favourites.
  3. Select desired list.

Take care.

I am a Community All-Star and customer. I'm here to help by sharing my knowledge and experience. My views on Bell and the Community Forum are my own and not the views of Bell or any of its affiliates.

dks
Community All-Star
Community All-Star

Thanks for your comment. I agree, the Bell Slim remote is not the friendliest in terms of accessibility. At minimum, a backlit remote would be helpful. I also use the Logitech Harmony remote with my 9500 Satellite TV receiver. Unfortunately it is harder to set up and no longer available. At the same time, the hardware Bell distributes is not made by Bell. The satellite receiver comes from Dish Network. The Fibe device comes from Arris, I believe. Bell would have to make representations to them and could likely not commission their own remote. A quick internet search found many "accessible" TV remote control devices available from a number of sources. Most have drawbacks, however, from being difficult to set up to lack of compatibility, high cost to not working with streaming services. We can only hope, however.  

I am a Community All-Star and customer. I'm here to help by sharing my knowledge and experience. My views on Bell and the Community Forum are my own and not the views of Bell or any of its affiliates.