eDRUMin accessibility

[ashleycox432]

Hi all, I'm a blind drummer and have been playing electronic drums for years with some dissatisfaction. Mostly due to the fact that I can't operate any of the commercially-available drum modules to their full extent, as their interfaces rely heavily on the screen and graphical menus which, with the best will in the world, would be impossible to fully memorise let alone edit effectively. Consequently settings up things like trigger settings, MIDI channel assignments and even editing kits has always been a challenge, so I started looking for a module that would simply allow me to connect the pads of an eDrum kit, and trigger drum plugins in a DAW which would, in theory, give me a fully accessible setup.

My questions relate to eDRUMIN's software control. I use the VoiceOver screenreader under MacOS, and I'd like to know if the software is accessibility-compliant and what programming language, and interface framework it is using? I assume it's not a native app (that would be nice, but nobody seems to make native apps any more).

I did download the software, though I don't have an eDRUMin module. Voiceover was unable to read any of the window contents, though whether that is due to me not having a module connected I'm not sure.

If eDRUMin's control software is indeed inaccessible, is there any alternative method to upload settings to it? for example, a text-based configuration file that could be edited manually and then uploaded.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dadwrshpdrum]

I can’t answer most of these questions on accessibility, but just so you know the app has no useable features without a device attached. The only thing visible on the app with no device attached s a message to attach an eDRUMin.

[ashleycox432]

Thanks for that. I couldn't read that message with Voiceover, so that probably doesn't bode well for the interface being useable, but here's hoping I'm missing something or that a solution can be found!

[Mylo]

Never mind…. What I was going to say was said above.

[Rob]

The application doesn't use a menu system, so it's almost certainly not compatible with accessiblity applications. If I was going to implement something to help someone in your position, it would be to allow the device to be controlled by MIDI cc.

[ashleycox432]

Thanks Rob. It doesn't need to use a menu system, it just needs to have an accessible interface whereby a screenreader can 'read' the interface elements. Apple have a fully documented accessibility API. There's even one for Java. What programming language is it written in?

[Rob]

c++

[ashleycox432]

That's great. Here's Apple's accessibility docs. Would you be willing to implement?
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/accessibility

[Rob]

Perhaps at a later date. With virtually zero income from eDRUMin for the next year, I need to invest some time to develop other revenue streams.

[ashleycox432]

Understandable. Have you considered making the software (or even the hardware) open source or making the designs available for a fee for DIY builders for non-commercial use? I'd love to see a 20-input version, for example, and it might help you if others could contribute to the project.