I am looking for a streaming device that is voice activated that can control an IPTV service for someone that is blind
Using Google Assistant, you can open/close apps and control volume. With some apps you can play movies and music. YouTube is a good app for this.
I just now asked Google Assistant to play a movie on Prime and it opened it and is now playing.
The Assistant would open Tivimate, but would not play a specific channel or change channels. Although, you can at least have Tivimate to open on the last channel you played by enabling that function in settings.
Seems Google Assistant is better suited for doing various commands within verified apps such as CW, Prime, etc, but it still has issues.
Bottom line, I got some limited successes, but it is a hassle and I doubt if this would be a very good option for a blind person…not sure. Although, if you have Tivimate and set it to play the last channel played when you open. Then the assistant will open the app and at least ONE channel will begin to play. Example: I turned on Fox News and then closed out of Tivimate. Then I even turned off the tv. Turned the tv back on, said "Ok, Google, open Tivimate. The Assistant opened the app and Fox News Began playing in full screen.
Sorry, I couldn’t find a better solution for you. I have done some research into stuff like this and do know there are site that do descriptive audio. So, you might want to look into those places for more info, but I doubt seriously if any unverified IPTV service will be of any help.
I think you will need to do a bunch of experimenting with your voice search to find out exactly what can and cannot be accomplished.
I second what @Powerfader said. Great post PF, I totally applaud your effort. My initial feelings were that a more verified IPTV approach would be better for what you are looking for. I don’t know much about the descriptive audio and the other tools that may be out there to help, but Google Assistant/Alexa can get you navigating in the right direction.
Is Google assistant an app or device? I do have TiVimate on a Firestick
If you use FireTV then you would use your microphone button to talk to Alexa. Same as Google Assistant just a different platform.
Then you should have Alexa, I believe.
Sorry, AMD237, didn’t read the post prior to posting my reply.
I was just thinking, you could rearrange your channels on a specific playlist so your friend could just click the up/down directional button to move to another channel. You could even glue a little raised dot on the up and down to make it more easily identifiable. That way when you direct your voice serve to open Tivimate and it will auto play whatever it is you close the app watching. Then you could change to a couple of channels fairly easily.
Ex: Open on Fox News, one click up moves to ABC, one click down moves to CBS, etc…
just a thought.
The new 3rd gen cube might also be an option Alexa built in run your whole house with it if you want but like PF said I don’t know if it’ll change channels in Tivimate. I doubt it.
There are full voice controlled boxs. I found the following link when researching this topic. I have no personal knowledge, regarding any of these boxs, so can’t give an opinion on their quality or use, but I do hope this helps.
Thanks, but I tried that before I submitted this post, he then hit the wrong button, and somehow exited the Iptv service. 
that’s why I need a set up that he can say “turn on ESPN” and it will do it.
The microphone function does not work while using an IPTV service app
You can do that with Google Assistant, but you will need to install the various apps you wish to access. So, if you say, “Turn on ESPN” then is will open the ESPN app if you have it installed. If not installed, the Assistant will take you to the Play Store so you can install it.
I did have some success with voice on Plex movies. I ordered up a movie and the assistant took ne to the movie and booted it up.
I believe any successes you may experience are going to be with verified free or paid services. I doubt you will be able to use any unverified services the way you want. 
Tbh, this whole voice thing is iffy and clunky, especially for a blind person! Voice works best to just open an app and do simple commands. If it gets confused (happens a lot) it either does nothing or it will try to direct you to some other source and usually doesn’t speak those sources.
You really are going to need to sit down and experiment with voice and your remote to see what apps you need and how they interact with Google Assistant or whichever voice you have.
Sling, Prime, RedBox, Pluto, FreeVee seemed to have some successes.
I bet you would better success using a regular cable tv provider such as Comcast, Spectrum, etc…?