REQUEST - Acsessibility on Devices

[joeohagan21]

Hey all,

I really struggle using any Elektron devices because of the sequencer, active steps are highlighted by red LED indicators.
I can’t see them.

For a bit of background I’m registered blind and have no colour vision at all.
I have issues with a lot of gear for this reason but none more so than Elektron products.
There’s been so many times where I’d love to have purchased Digitakt, Analog Rytm, Octatrack but then I’m reminded every time I use one why I haven’t invested in them.

For me they are completely unusable. I can’t be the only one?

Is there anything that could be done through firmware? For example altering active steps to white instead of red? Could it be a toggle in the settings?

I’d love to work testing different solutions to try and find something that works.
Accessibility in music gear is overlooked so often, this should not be the case.
I understand it’s a unique case of circumstances though.

Any thoughts?

[Octagonist]

@joeohagan21

For me they are completely unusable. I can’t be the only one?

I’m registered “partially sighted” and I have decent colour vision, so I’m struggling, but not as much as you. Modern Elektrons have become my “minimum viable UI” boundary (and in fact the Model:series are too uncomfortable for me to use). I recently got an A4 mkii alongside my Rytm and OT. The “five column” layout across the A4 screen is a bit too cramped for me, even compared with the “noisy” OT screen designs.

So, no, you’re not the only one. There’s at least one more thread on this topic on the forum. The forum’s probably not as accessible as you’d hope, either. I’m lucky I can still use it like a “sighted person” for the most part.

The colour-blindness seems a real issue! The step keys change colour for different modes; the page indicator changes colour and intensity for different selections/indicators. Empathies for your challenges

The mkii layouts and screens look like a big improvement over the skis, but still, many functions could be improved somewhat.

@joeohagan21

Any thoughts?

We should send feature requests direct to them.

[natehorn]

Relying on colour at all will always pose challenges - in my line of work as a rule (because it’s the law) we only use colour as supplimentary information for this reason, there should always be a more inclusive way of indicating state.

However it’s also more of a challenge on a device like this so that’s not inteded to be a criticism of Elektron.

The LED’s are clearly RGB (at least on the Octatrack they are, maybe more limited on the Digi’s I’ve never seen them do a rainbow dance). I wonder if at the very least some level of control could be given over the LED colour - or alternative firmwares provided for the common colourblindness types, i.e. deuteranomaly, protanomaly etc.

[waftlord]

i’m sure you’ve explored these but i’d be interested if they work with LED based music tech

‎Color Blind Pal

https://www.apkonline.net/download-android-apks/com-mkrscope-ledscope-trial

the practicality of setting up a device over your equipment may well negate from the music making experience.

[joeohagan21]

Yep, the new OLED’s aren’t so much an issue, I just learn all the menus and functions to reduce the need of having to look at the displays!

The issue lies with the RGB indicators for me.
I feel it’s the type of thing that if nobody ever makes a noise about or brings it to attention it’ll never be thought about or considered.

My workaround is to edit patterns based on what active triggers I can hear and then visualise that on the grid, it works, kind of.
Not ideal though and nightmarish for any sort of performance.

[joeohagan21]

Yep, custom firmware has crossed my mind but then you run into the issue of maintaining these custom settings with firmware upgrades. A toggle or menu within settings would be ideal.

Another option would be to open the whole thing up within settings, allow customisation of colours and intensity.
Maybe the red would be visible if it were at a greater intensity but then you run the risk of shortening lifespan.

Such customisation might even be useful for on stage performance under intense lighting?

[djadonis206]

I was also curious about something like this last summer

Do companies take disability access into account?

I was always curious about this. Given that sometimes you have to make multiple button presses to accomplish something and maybe one of your hands, wrists, or fingers are not available. Or when things use colors to mark something (DN) and you can’t distinguish colors. I’m just curious how serious beatbox makers / synth companies take disability into account when designing their machines.

[ghostbuddy]

Couldn’t you take your Elektron device to a synth repair shop and replace the red leds with white ones? Or whatever color you want. It’s gonna cost yeah, but better than nothing.

Sadly I doubt smaller companies like Elektron have much incentive to add extra accessibility features, as they cost a lot more than what disabled customers would bring in sales.

[AdamJay]

@ghostbuddy

Couldn’t you take your Elektron device to a synth repair shop and replace the red leds with white ones? Or whatever color you want. It’s gonna cost yeah, but better than nothing.

Not going to work unless it’s an analog mk1 or earlier. Digis, modern MK2s use multi-color LEDs underneath the step buttons.

The solution is an accessible checkbox in a menu that adjusts the color of these indicators to more accessible hues. The hardware is already there. A software tweak is what is needed.

[ghostbuddy]

@AdamJay

The solution is an accessible checkbox in a menu that adjusts the color of these indicators to more accessible hues.

Right, well this sounds like a feature that would maybe be possible to impletent. But since they haven’t given the option to lower the brightness, this might not be high on their list either.

Also, don’t the MK2’s kind of require there to be multiple color on the sequencer? Like, how would it work with just one color?

[AdamJay]

CC @Patrik

[natehorn]

@ghostbuddy

Also, don’t the MK2’s kind of require there to be multiple color on the sequencer? Like, how would it work with just one color?

There are different forms of colourblindness - OP’s is a bit more specific but could be accomodated for in this case using a single colour with varying intensity (that would be my suggestion), but normally it involves difficulty in descerning between certain hues. So it would be more about saying ‘instead of red use blue’. Here’s a visualisation of the common types.

For reference colourblindenss effects 10% of men (it’s much rarer among women)

As you can see red/green is tricky for some people as it just ends up being lots of green. This is why it’s important for something like a traffic light to have the lights in different positions as well as having different colours.

[ghostbuddy]

With Overbridge you’d think it wouldn’t be impossible to make your own colour chart for the sequencer.

[joeohagan21]

Nice to get a conversation going here!
Year it’s definitely difficult due to the multi colour functions in the sequencer.

For context by the way, my condition is achromatopsia.

[Potr]

It should be trivial to add a menu option to configure the led colours on models with rgb leds. We already got a way to change the light intensity, which cured the headaches I got from the mega bright flashing lights.

[sezare56]

On Octatrack you can display trigs with the screen…