I need help finding an accessible DAW

[u/DilfInTraining124]

I’m currently a jaws user. I already have a physical set up with an audio interface, but I need the final step which is software. I’ve seen reaper suggested frequently, but I found a few warnings about how they stopped updating Jaws support. Similar things about ProTools, but I don’t have a lot of money to shill out. Any other suggestions would be great.

[u/Glittering_Cap_4511]

I would recommend reaper, and just install NVDA as it’s free. And will probably be the only time you’d use it to use your DaW And will not take a lot of resources on your system.

[u/DilfInTraining124 → u/Glittering_Cap_4511]

Will there be any issues between the two readers clashing? Or is that something not to worry about? I saw people saying that reaper didn’t work as well with jaws, but does it have any major issues or incompatibilities?

[u/Glittering_Cap_4511 → u/DilfInTraining124]

You can simply just turn off jaws by using the hot keys, and turn on NVDA by using its hockey. I have a friend that does this when he wants to do music production using reaper. As he uses jaws on a daily basis for work And uses NVDA for music production. As somebody else said, they are scripts for Jaws using reaper for now. Definitely check out Reaper Access, you’ll find some very useful tutorials and guides to install and use reaper.

[u/TXblindman]

Definitely reaper is the one to go with. I use logic Pro on the Mac and I basically have to relearn half the things I know every time they update.

[u/DilfInTraining124 → u/TXblindman]

I met another blind musician from New York, who told me about how he uses logic, but I’ve also heard things like you just said, so I was undecided. Thanks for letting me know. I hope you have a great day.

[u/CosmicBunny97]

Reaper is your best bet - it should work similarly to how it works with NVDA, in that it works great. It's a steep learning curve and one I've barely scratched the surface of. Definitely check out Reaper Accessibility Wiki to help you install Reaper, there's good tutorials out there too.

[u/DilfInTraining124 → u/CosmicBunny97]

I’m not super worried about the learning curve, once I figure out how to put live recordings together most of what I’m looking to get out of it will be done. Thanks a lot for your comment and I hope you have a great day.

[u/CosmicBunny97 → u/DilfInTraining124]

It's okay. There's lots of great tutorials out there so I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out - all you really need to do is install pretty much everything the Reaper Accessibility Wiki says. Thanks, and you too :)

[u/Ok-Virus-2198]

I'm voting for Audacity. They even have mailing list for blind users where one can ask questions and get help.

[u/SightlessKombat]

Reaper has JAWS scripts that are still being updated, though I'm an NVDA user myself and have used Reaper for years as well under that. As for two readers clashing, that is something you'd have to be aware of, though unloading JFW and then using NVDA in its place shouldn't be that hard. If you need any further assistance with Reaper in general I'd suggest subscribing to the RWP mailing list. Hope this advice helps.

[u/retrolental_morose → u/SightlessKombat]

a simple batch file or vb script to hop between screen readers is easy to code and you could assign a hotkey to trigger that from anywhere.

[u/SightlessKombat → u/retrolental_morose]

Respectfully I disagree, as that is true only if you know how to code in those languages proficiently and have a hotkey free.

[u/retrolental_morose → u/SightlessKombat]

I think it's a solution that turns having 2 existing hotkeys into 1, cuts down the exit from screen reader one and load screen reader process into a single step and also allows you to potentially restore from a crash. it's not a complicated coding job for anyone learning a bit of programming, and if you are already juggling multiple screen readers and DAWs, is something many people would find a benefit.

[u/Lopsided-Recording10 → u/retrolental_morose]

. I can see the utility but, like, that takes a lot more time than just typing capslock f4, windows r, jaws 2025. I know it would save time in the long run but I've just never felt the need and I'm always switching between them. That control alt n keystroke may interfere with some other hotkey, like google's fastest ones in docs but that's easy  to work around

[u/retrolental_morose → u/Lopsided-Recording10]

capslock q if you're quitting NVDA and loading JAWS, surely. I switch between screen readers a good 10 times a day for work, so I guess for me the efficiencies really add up because they both have different start and stop keys. Far easier to hit ctrl+alt+shift+s, which I've mapped to my desktop shortcut for screen reader switch by using the ctrl+alt key on the right of my keyboard, and not have to worry about which one I'm quitting and which one I want on next.

[u/Lopsided-Recording10 → u/retrolental_morose]

Yes of course, I was writing too fast haha. I'm used to switching between them at least that much and it just doesn't seem that slow to me.

[u/retrolental_morose → u/Lopsided-Recording10]

hehe you almost proved my point with that error! But yes, if you're used to it, it can seem just not a problem. My wife has an annoying habit of going to a search engine's home page and typing into the search box, rather than using the bar in her browser for example. Even though she knows the bar is there and set to the same engine, and she's loading a whole page she doesn't need, it's just built in.

[u/Lopsided-Recording10 → u/retrolental_morose]

Now that one I absolutely do deliberately, some searches need the google machine, some need to duck and go and I'd best not mix them up.

[u/retrolental_morose → u/Lopsided-Recording10]

still a total waste of bandwidth and resources. you can change search provider within any web browser and, with some, you can even prefix a search (g something for google, d something to duck etc). Loading up a search page was 22% of my wife's workweek last time. Crazy!

[u/SightlessKombat → u/retrolental_morose]

I don't disagree it could be of use. However, it's not necessarily an easy thing to code. What seems easy for one person might be the most difficult thing for someone else.

[u/Silver-Development92]

FL is not accessible by any means, Lmms is a little bit accessible, not too much though, reaper and audacity are the best when it comes to accessibility support

[u/zersiax]

What do the Reaper JAWS scripts even do? From what I understand Reaper just uses Osara to become accessible which is screenreader-independent so where do the scripts come in?

Ableton Live 12 also includes accessibility as of that version, which may be another option to look at

[u/DilfInTraining124 → u/zersiax]

I’ve not heard that from anyone else can you expand on that?

[u/Urgon_Cobol]

Audacity for audio editing and recording. LMMS as poor man's FL Studio. These are completely free. You can try demo/trial versions of various programs before deciding to buy one.

I would also suggest checking Humble Bundle from time to time. I've got Mixcraft 9 with some cool plugins and sample packs very cheaply, and a week ago I bought 80GB of royality-free music.

In general however I think that DAWs are not well suited to use them with no sight. Even for Mixcraft 9 I had to customize my own theme to be able to see the piano roll. LMMS looks better but it has some crippling limitations. I think that old-school trackers from Amiga and early SoundBlaster era might be better suited for JAWS. Also before computers became powerful end DAWs were created, people used to record on physical media and use hardware mixers and effects.

[u/DilfInTraining124 → u/Urgon_Cobol]

Thanks for your suggestions. I tried to record using my cassette deck, but the recording belt broke.

[u/Urgon_Cobol → u/DilfInTraining124]

That's common problem with older equipment - belts and rollers become brittle. My blind friend collects tape recorders, and has a friend who repairs them for him...

[u/DilfInTraining124 → u/Urgon_Cobol]

Yeah, I’ve been meaning to replace it. It’s just been something I keep putting off because I don’t feel like I’m knowledgeable enough to get it right. Does the friend of your friend work on them professionally or is it just a personal agreement? I’m only asking because where I live there’s Almost nobody who works on them.

[u/Urgon_Cobol → u/DilfInTraining124]

I think that friend of a friend used to work repairing tape decks and other consumer audio equipment in 1990's. In most cases however one only needs a decent set of screwdrivers and a soldering iron. Things like belts are easy to replace by design, as they loose tension over time. There are repair sets for most of common tape decks and reel-to-reel machines, as well as service manuals that show, how it's done and how to adjust the mechanism.

I have a very good tape recorder that needs some belts replaced, but that specific model needs almost complete disassembly to get to the mechanism, and I don't even use tapes, so I have no motivation to spend hours working on it.