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totally blind looking to work with someone to make deluge accessible to blind users.

3

Hi everyone hope you're doing well and staying safe, I'm Trey from the UK and I'm totally blind. I wasn't sure which part of the forum to post this to so I hope it's ok to post this here. I've always thought the deluge was really cool but because I'm totally blind it's very difficult to use. As the firmware is now open source I would like to collaborate on a project to make the deluge accessible to totally blind users using text to speech. Even though I have no coding knowledge whatsoever I am looking to collaborate with someone to make this happen. I have a couple of ideas as to how this could be implemented and I'm looking for collaborators please comment here or inbox me on the forum if you think you can help. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this I look forward to everyone's thoughts :-) It would be really great to collaborate with someone to make this happen :-)

I'm trey from the uk I'm totally blind with cerebral palsy, I make music with hardware and reaper on Mac os10.

Comments

  • 1
    chrisrolandchrisroland United StatesPosts: 40

    given that there are already magnetic shortcut overlays in existence, maybe one non-firmware fix could be converting them to a braille version? especially since so much of the workflow is shortcut dependent.

  • 2
    soundwarrior20soundwarrior20 Wales Uk Posts: 27

    Hi, this is a good idea. However, I think text-to-speech will be more effective in this case as many blind people don't read Braille.

    I'm trey from the uk I'm totally blind with cerebral palsy, I make music with hardware and reaper on Mac os10.

  • 0
    oneANToneANT ɹǝpun uʍop puɐlPosts: 73

    This would be beyond amazing ..it would also port to physical and mental disabilities as well. I don't mean to hijack but blindness is not the only challenge people face. Some cannot even move. Some don't want to. To be outside your body when you cannot even open a door ..should be the project. A lot of the features (if not all) would port to other 'disabilities'. Speech to text for example would benefit a lot of people. Even to know that the Deluge is for them ..that they might suddenly discover music (and themselves) would be immense.

    I wonder if it can be asked that there be a specialist group for the dream out of reach that some people have. Maybe a small commitment (a small percentage) from each contributor in the Open Source program to a program that would do more than just make pretty sounds.

    ant

  • 1
    soundwarrior20soundwarrior20 Wales Uk Posts: 27

    This would be amazing :-) it would be great to establish some kind of working group maybe. How would we go about doing this do you think?> @oneANT said:

    This would be beyond amazing ..it would also port to physical and mental disabilities as well. I don't mean to hijack but blindness is not the only challenge people face. Some cannot even move. Some don't want to. To be outside your body when you cannot even open a door ..should be the project. A lot of the features (if not all) would port to other 'disabilities'. Speech to text for example would benefit a lot of people. Even to know that the Deluge is for them ..that they might suddenly discover music (and themselves) would be immense.

    I wonder if it can be asked that there be a specialist group for the dream out of reach that some people have. Maybe a small commitment (a small percentage) from each contributor in the Open Source program to a program that would do more than just make pretty sounds.

    ant

    I'm trey from the uk I'm totally blind with cerebral palsy, I make music with hardware and reaper on Mac os10.

  • 0
    oneANToneANT ɹǝpun uʍop puɐlPosts: 73

    A letter to Ian is the beginning Trey.
    We will write to Ian.

    Will write to you and share contact details soon.

    ant

  • 1
    alex_reidalex_reid Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 3

    This is an amazing suggestion SoundWarrior20. If it is too hard to get the Deluge to perform text to speech, you could probably offload that part to a computer or phone via the USB connection. I know braille might be out of the question, but would some kind of tactile feedback help? for example a 3d printed frame around the buttons with a ridge after every 4th button?

  • 0
    oneANToneANT ɹǝpun uʍop puɐlPosts: 73

    @soundwarrior20 said:
    it would be great to establish some kind of working group maybe. How would we go about doing this do you think?

    Have messaged you

  • 0
    VondragonnogginVondragonnoggin California, USAPosts: 199
    edited January 3

    There was another user on here a few years ago asking about use for the blind. He had cerebral palsy too. Edit - I see you are the same user. Sorry I missed that.

    I created a shortcut guide for his text to speech but of course the shortcuts have changed over the years.

    Maybe something in the thread will give you some ideas on how to work with it

    https://forums.synthstrom.com/discussion/comment/4540#Comment_4540

    If you read the whole thread, it may give you some ideas on alternative uses.

    Post edited by Vondragonnoggin on
  • 0
    oneANToneANT ɹǝpun uʍop puɐlPosts: 73

    @Vondragonnoggin said:

    I created a shortcut guide for his text to speech but of course the shortcuts have changed over the years.

    I saw the fb post when you said you had made Trey a shortcut list.
    Am in conversation with Trey this week. If he does not get your message I will make sure he does.
    Can I show you this ..
    https://pulsar23manual.somasynths.com/

    An interactive manual, and in my mind a Deluge Map.
    One of the open source Devs posted it on discord as something they thought they would like. Straight away I thought of you and your brilliant shortcut list.

    ant

  • 1
    VondragonnogginVondragonnoggin California, USAPosts: 199

    The Deluge has grown and changed so much since 2018 when I made the shortcuts list, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be difficult for someone in the community working on the Open Source firmware, to create a speech function for the Deluge messages that happen when you run into something that is not possible. For instance, I had described in my old post some times where you will run into a limitation on the Deluge when trying a shortcut, and the screen will display “CANT”, meaning it can’t complete the function. What if those error or limitation messages could trigger an audio speech file so the person could hear it when a message was displayed due to an error? They could add a folder with the speech samples for the menu items that come up when an error or limitation happens, or possibly even a speech sample of the shortcut function itself that would sound out when a person enables the audio menu trigger, then can switch the function off for a playback mode so the speech samples would not interfere with actual song playback.

    to me, this “menu with speech indicators” mode, along with a mapping of the shortcuts that a person could learn, might make the navigation and functions possible for a blind user.

    I think the version was still 1.4 or maybe 2.0 when I created the original shortcut map for the text to speech.

  • 1
    VondragonnogginVondragonnoggin California, USAPosts: 199
    edited January 3

    To further what I was describing, maybe there could be an “accessibility” mode turned on by a key or button press sequence that would enable the “menu to speech indicator” mode, then use the folder full of the speech example samples for the audible indicator while creating. Turn it off again by the same sequence of button presses. That way those that use the Deluge that do not have any disability, would not encounter the feature unless it is specifically enabled for “accessibility” mode.

    I hope I am describing the potential added function correctly. Again, it could be used in conjunction with a text to speech mapping guide that was updated to the latest shortcuts.

    Post edited by Vondragonnoggin on
  • 0
    oneANToneANT ɹǝpun uʍop puɐlPosts: 73

    If the solution has value to ALL (regardless of disability or none) ..it will become integrated and moreso as its value to the user increases. Its own future and the Deluge upgrades need to flow in the same stream, need to result from the same source and effort.

    Wait till you see the solution ..you will want it, I want it,EVERYONE will want it.
    Some will want it so much that they would want to buy a Deluge.

    Some work to do.
    We have a year
    Very (VERY) exciting
    Am going to introduce the Idea in the facebook forum. Discussion is hugely important and is a source for thoughtful design. You are a terrific example to follow. Is brilliant what you did and even now ..continue to do.

    I will post here when I post to facebook to keep you informed.
    I will say hello to Trey from you.

  • 0
    VondragonnogginVondragonnoggin California, USAPosts: 199
    edited January 4

    Thanks. Yes, I hope Trey is doing ok and making music. Definitely say hi for me. I haven’t been on Facebook in a few years other than a brief pop in to check a message from a family member. I avoid as much as possible but this forum is very inactive now so the Facebook group must be more active. I know there are a lot of Deluge users out there.

    Good luck with the project! I have to study up on some new 4.1.4 features and maybe even check out the community firmware. It’s been a little while since I worked diligently on my Deluge. I just got it back from getting the OLED update and pretty much every other option new I could pick so it looks like a new Deluge. I’ll be exploring it more soon.

    Cheers.

    Post edited by Vondragonnoggin on
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