How to turn off the Accessibility "screen description" setting?

[Annista]

Bell supposedly upgraded my Fibe for my t.v.  The agent said he was going in and changing my settings but all he did was mess up the sound on my t.v.   Now when I turn the t.v. on, a loud scratchy woman's voice announces the wrong time, says "HDMI 1" and tells me I have no internet connection when I do.  She then goes on about going to the control button.  But the worst is, that if I can't hear what someone is saying on a show I am watching, I turn up the volume and then this same voice comes on announcing what the volume level is, so I can't hear the show at all.  And what is unbelievable is that a few minutes AFTER I turn off the T.V., her voice will come on briefly again two or three minutes later with one final announcement!  It scares me out of my wits.  I have tried for four weeks to get Bell's Customer Service to have a top technical person contact me, but they simply can't be bothered.  I have sat on the phone often for four or five hours a day with junior agents troubleshooting. They changed my receiver but that doesn't help as it is a problem with the settings.  I have turned the Accessibility settings on and off and that does not change anything either.

[BellAntonie · Accepted solution]

Hey there @Annista , 

Welcome to the community and thanks for your post.

It sounds like you are experiencing a conflict between the Bell Fibe TV receiver and your TV's internal accessibility settings. The "scratchy woman's voice" announcing HDMI 1, the volume levels, and continuing even after the TV is off is almost certainly a feature called Voice Guide (or Screen Reader) built into your actual television set, not the Bell box.

The agent may have enabled a setting on the new receiver that triggered your TV to think it needs to provide "spoken feedback" for everything happening on the screen.

Below are some troubleshooting steps you can try;

1. Disable the Voice on Your TV (The Primary Fix)
Since the voice announces HDMI 1 and the volume levels, it is coming from the TV itself. You need to use your original TV remote (not the Bell remote) to turn this off:

• For Samsung TVs: Go to Settings > General & Privacy > Accessibility > Voice Guide Settings and toggle Voice Guide to OFF.
• For LG TVs: Look for Settings > All Settings > General > Accessibility > Audio Guidance and turn it OFF.
• For Sony/Android TVs: Navigate to Settings > Device Preferences > Accessibility > TalkBack (or Screen Reader) and disable it.
• For Roku TVs: Press the Star (*) button four times quickly, or go to Settings > Accessibility > Screen Reader and select OFF.

2. Check the Bell Receiver Accessibility
Even though you’ve tried this, ensure the TalkBack feature on the Fibe box itself is also disabled, as it can sometimes "re-trigger" the TV's voice:

• Press the Home button on your Bell remote.
• Select the Settings (gear icon).
• Scroll to Accessibility.
• Ensure TalkBack or Screen Reader is toggled to OFF.
• Note: If you are using the Bell Streamer, go to Settings > Device Preferences > Accessibility > TalkBack.

3. Stop the "After-Hours" Ghost Voice
The reason she speaks a few minutes after you turn the TV off is likely due to a feature called HDMI-CEC (or "Sync"). When the Bell box goes into standby or updates, it sends a signal through the HDMI cable that "wakes up" the TV's audio processor briefly.

The Fix: In your Bell Receiver settings, go to Settings > Device > Display & Sound > HDMI-CEC and turn it OFF. This prevents the box and TV from talking to each other when they should be asleep.

4. Resolving the "No Internet Connection" Message
If the voice is saying "no internet connection" while your Bell TV is actually working, it means your TV is not connected to Wi-Fi, but your Bell box is. The TV's internal "Voice Guide" is trying to be helpful by telling you the TV's smart features aren't online.

Once you disable the Voice Guide using the steps in Section 1, this annoying announcement should stop completely.

Give those a try and keep the community updated with the results.