London-based music producer Jason Dasent not only makes music – he also has helped music software and hardware company Arturia better address the needs of musicians with vision impairment. Dasent, who is visually impaired, joined with Arturia after purchasing equipment from the company a few years ago and dealing with the lack of accessibility of its offerings. Following a presentation he made about this at the Audio Developers Conference (ADC) in London he was approached by Arturia to work with them to make their Analog Lab accessible. Over the next months, he provided ongoing feedback to the Arturia team as they worked on a “prototype” of an accessibility toolset. As a result, they recently “launched a new update” and announced a new accessibility mode for Analog Lab V. The new mode makes it possible for “users to turn on auditory feedback and screen reading.” As Dasent explained, “’Basically, as I press a button on Keylab (music synthesizer), or I turn a dial or change a value, it sends notifications out to the system voice, allowing me to know exactly what’s on the keyboard.’” An article on the engadget website describes the work of Dasent and Arturia, as well as the fact that “Like most of the tech industry, music software developers have, until now, largely overlooked the needs of people with disabilities.” For more information about accessibility and music software – and this latest development – read the full article: How Arturia made its music-making software more accessible.
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