Remotes

[valeriehall]

My mom spends a lot of time watching TV. We recently replaced her regular TV and external Roku device with a Roku smart TV. She lacs fine motor skills due to her disability and struggles with the small Roku remotes. In particular for her is the volume buttons which are on the side of the remote. Does anyone else experience a similar challenge and what have you done to combat this?

[RokuDanny-R]

Greetings @valeriehall 

Welcome to the Roku Community and thanks for the inquiry related to alternatives to the existing Roku TV remote.

Have you tried connecting a mobile device to your Roku TV and use the Roku mobile app as a remote to control the TV volume?

For more information about using the Roku mobile app as a remote, visit our Support pages here: 
Install the mobile app
Control your Roku without a remote

Let us know if that works out for you or if there is any other clarification we can provide with this option.

Thanks,
Danny

[sigfan69]

I am so grateful you posted this question. I am 53 years old and struggle with the Roku remote all the time. I have severe physical injuries and got retired at the age of 46. Due to my multiple Traumatic Brain Injuries and the fact my left frontal lobe is dying I also have fine motor skill issues. I have severe arthritis and find the Roku remote maddeningly difficult to hold onto. I'm dropping the thing all the time and the volume buttons on the side are horribly designed. I don't have the resources to buy surround sound that I could control with a better designed remote. I feel like Roku is being irresponsibly short sighted by not having an available remote for special needs folks or senior citizens. I have a lot of trouble processing instructions and being told to just use an app on my phone to control my TV is a useless fix to this problem. Roku needs to design a remote for special needs folks.

[Anonymous]

Hi @sigfan69

Welcome to the Roku Community!

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you're experiencing with your Roku remote. It sounds like you have a number of challenges that make it difficult for you to use the device effectively. I can understand why you feel frustrated with the situation and believe that Roku should do more to design a remote that is accessible to everyone, including those with special needs.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and bringing this to our attention! That's a great idea! We'll send it over to the dev team. Who knows, you may see your suggestion implemented in a future update. You can check out our blog at http://blog.roku.com for the latest news and upcoming updates.

While Roku does not currently offer a remote specifically designed for people with disabilities or special needs, there may be some options available that could help you to use your existing remote more easily. For example, there are third-party accessories available that can be attached to your remote to make it easier to grip or operate. Additionally, there may be some smartphone apps or voice assistants that could be used to control your Roku device, which could be a helpful alternative to using the physical remote.


Warm regards,
Lianna

[Hildy6]

I will add another. My father in law is 88 and has trouble with the small buttons on his Roku remote.  Smart devices are not a good solution for him but a roku remote with big buttons would be great.  There are big button remotes out there as universal remotes but they don’t say they work with Roku.  We got him a Roku TV so we could get the channels he likes to watch the most.  Maybe in the development process one of th devices out there with big buttons could be adapted to ROKU.  Seems like a different control board or software would do the trick.