Introduction
Following the success of the ‘Inclusive Design in Harmony’ event held earlier this year, RNIB and Sound Without Sight will be hosting a workshop at this year’s Audio Developer Conference on Monday 13th November 2023. The session will promote the work happening across the audio industry to support accessibility and inclusive design.
ADC is an event celebrating all audio development technologies, from music applications and game audio to audio processing and embedded systems. ADC’s mission is to help attendees acquire and develop new skills, and build a network that will support their career development. It is also aimed at showcasing academic research and facilitating collaborations between research and industry.
What will the workshop cover?
As the audio industry seeks to improve diversity within its workforce, and the music industry seeks to widen the diversity of artists creating music, it is essential that the inclusion becomes woven into the design of the tools available.
But what do terms such as accessibility and inclusive design actually mean?
How might developers begin to adopt inclusive design practices so that their software becomes accessible to a wider audience?
What are some of the big-name audio companies doing to support accessibility and how can you learn from their experience?
These are the kind of questions that this workshop seeks to answer.
Firstly, we are very incredibly excited about the panellists joining us for the session, who will provide updates about all the new accessibility-related work being done by their companies and organisations. Our panellists will be:
- Jay Pocknell (RNIB / Sound Without Sight)
- Harry Morley (Focusrite)
- Tom Poole (JUCE)
- Adil Ghanty (Native Instruments)
- Scott Chesworth (Freelance Accessibility Consultant and Trainer)
- Martin Keary (Muse Group)
- Arvid Johnsson (Softube)
- Athan Billias (MIDI Association)
- Adi Dickens (Ableton)
The workshop will also share pre-recorded updates from other developers across the industry.
Later in the session, the panel will discuss what potential there could be for greater collaboration across the industry to ensure synergy. How can companies take practical steps towards their shared desire for a more inclusive industry? We will hear about the MIDI Association’s proposed Music Accessibility Standard and discuss other initiatives, as well as dedicating a significant portion of the session to answering attendees’ questions.
Also during the workshop, Focusrite’s Harry Morley will be presenting a practical overview of inclusive design using the JUCE framework. He will share his experience of working on the Focusrite Control 2 and Vocaster software, which are both screen-reader friendly.
Full details can be found at the ADC23 schedule page.
How to attend the online workshop
You will need to be registered for an ADC23 ticket (of any type) to access the accessibility workshop. However, if you are a disabled musician, developer, or engineer and are keen to get involved in this workshop, but online ticket cost will present a barrier to participation, then please email us at: contact@soundwithoutsight.org by Thursday 9th November 2023. With Sound Without Sight being a Community Sponsor for ADC23, we have a limited number of online passes to give away!
Registering for an online conference ticket
- Go to the following Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/audio-developer-conference-2023-adc-registration-692398150507?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Click ‘reserve a spot’.
- Select your preferred ticket type.
- Proceed to check out.
Registering for the ADC Online Portal
Once you have received your confirmation email from Eventbrite, you will then need to register for the conference’s online portal. This is where the links to join sessions will appear shortly before the start time of each event.
- Go to the online portal at: https://conference.audio.dev/
- Click “create account” and fill in the form using the same email address that your ticket is registered to.
You can then access the link to the session at the link below.
Accessing the session
The workshop will be delivered by Zoom. You will be able to access the link shortly before the workshop begins (2pm on Monday 13th October) by visiting the ADC online portal:
https://conference.audio.dev/lobby/
You will need to be logged in to the portal to access the link.
During the session, you will be able to submit questions via Zoom’s in-built Q&A function. If this is not accessible to you, then please feel free to email questions to: contact@soundwithoutsight.org