Chromecast with Google TV’s added audio cues for navigation and casting are an accessibility win

I’m not really sure when this became a thing, but what I do know is that it didn’t exist the last time I browsed Google TV in my living room. Upon turning the TV on this week, I noticed that new audio cues accompanied my button presses as I navigated the UI to look for shows and movies.

It’s no surprise that Google is polishing the user experience as it aims to continue dominating the largest, most family-oriented room in your home this holiday season. As with many things, and yes, I say this often – I don’t really understand why the company waited this long to add something so basic.

In a world of accessibility-focused design, especially from Google, I think audio cues for navigating up, down, left and right, selecting things, going back to the previous screen, and more should have shipped with the dongle on the day of launch. Ship it half-baked and improve it over time though, right? That does seem to be its design philosophy.

There’s also a new sound for when you cast a video from your phone or another device to the TV. All of these cues are rather subtle and pleasant, and while I don’t have the files to share here today, I would encourage you to pick up your Google TV remote and begin browsing.

I’m currently running the Android TV OS build you see in the image above (STTE.220920.A1.9261725) with the September 20th kernel update. Let me know in the comments if you’re also hearing these audio cues, have already had them for quite some time, or don’t yet have them.

Sometimes, when my remote battery is low or if I’m not pointing right at the screen, it can be hard to tell whether a button press has registered since it doesn’t always work perfectly. Another reason I like these is because casting never made any sound in the past, and didn’t always connect instantaneously, so having some audible indication prevents me from having to try again even if it didn’t fail and messing it up with two requests. I didn’t see anything officially announced regarding this small, yet important tweak, but it certainly is a welcome one for me.