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PostPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:44 pm 

Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:38 pm
Posts: 4
I am a blind PC user who just tried Stereo Tool for the first time. It installs fine, runs fine, but I can do nothing after starting it.
This seems to be because StereoTool doesn't use any standard Windows controls. Everything seems to be written to the screen in a way that doing anything requires the mouse to be used, not the keyboard. The screen reader I am using can't interract with StereoTool, at all.
ST needs some major UI changes if blind users like myself will be able to use it. It sounds like an awesome plugin, but I can't do much with it.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 10:20 pm 
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Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:40 am
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There are 2 ways of using it in this situation, but both are a bit annoying.

First option is to edit the .ini file that contains all the settings manually. A .ini file is just a text-based file that contains all the settings. But, you need to restart ST for every change you make to hear the effect, and there's no way to load presets etc.

The 2nd option is to use the web interface. Which is not completely finished yet (but I will fix that soon); right now you cannot load presets but that should be possible within a few weeks. To enable the web interface, you'll still have to edit the .ini file, but after doing that you can use it.

Which reminds me.... there used to be an alternative interface for blind people in ST in the past (years ago) which was triggered by an environment setting (STBLIND). That was in a time when all the separate settings were present as standard sliders, but I had an overview window that was drawn using the method that's now used to draw the entire interface.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 4:35 am 

Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:38 pm
Posts: 4
Quote:
There are 2 ways of using it in this situation, but both are a bit annoying.

First option is to edit the .ini file that contains all the settings manually. A .ini file is just a text-based file that contains all the settings. But, you need to restart ST for every change you make to hear the effect, and there's no way to load presets etc.

The 2nd option is to use the web interface. Which is not completely finished yet (but I will fix that soon); right now you cannot load presets but that should be possible within a few weeks. To enable the web interface, you'll still have to edit the .ini file, but after doing that you can use it.

Which reminds me.... there used to be an alternative interface for blind people in ST in the past (years ago) which was triggered by an environment setting (STBLIND). That was in a time when all the separate settings were present as standard sliders, but I had an overview window that was drawn using the method that's now used to draw the entire interface.

Sorry for replying to this so late, I just saw it.

Would this page from Microsoft help to get any of the accessibility features back? https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/librar ... 35024.aspx
Something on the developer website over there. I'm not a programmer but maybe there's a way to change the UI for screen reader users automatically, or if nothing else have it as an option in installation.

Where is this INI file you speak of located?


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:06 am 

Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:38 pm
Posts: 4
I was able to find the INI and tried the web interface, which is unfortunately not accessible either. All the graphics on it aren't labeled. I can read the text written to the screen but changing settings is really difficult.
Here is the screen reader I'm using. http://www.nvaccess.org

I can edit the ini file, however there are so many settings there and I know not what 85% of it does. Editing each one and restarting Stereo Tool would take up a lot of time. I may find the time to do that sometime, but not yet. LOL

Honestly I would be more than willing to test any accessibility improvements you would roll out, if that were to happen. I know several other blind users who might be interested, too.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 4:27 am 

Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:38 pm
Posts: 4
I think that if the web interface had edit combo boxes or edit boxes (alongside or in place of) the graphical sliders that have to be clicked, one could control it easier the way they wanted.
With edit boxes one could just type in an exact number instead of trying to move the slider to an exact position only to have it go too fast/slow. It would also be a lot easier for us blind users.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 3:29 pm 
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Posts: 11185
Hm true. That should really help a lot. I still have to finish the web interface (it's currently incomplete, a few things aren't there yet) so I guess I could add this as well when I start working on it again.


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PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2018 9:33 am 

Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:31 am
Posts: 133
Quote:
Hm true. That should really help a lot. I still have to finish the web interface (it's currently incomplete, a few things aren't there yet) so I guess I could add this as well when I start working on it again.
Back on a new account.
I was able to figure out the web interface. I can control it by dragging sliders around, and pressing enter/clicking on buttons to turn them on and off. At least the labels show wif they're on/off or I'd be in trouble. LOL anyway something just broke in the last few versions.

I cannot change presets. I dislike the default preset and wanna use another web/Internet preset. However when I focus on the preset box and try to open it to switch presets, the page seems to crash with my screen reader running. I'm not sure why, but it's really annoying how I can't change presets on this Winamp version I'm trying to use.
I can however change the preset on my standalone version I have installed, which I set to web preset mode a long time ago. If I leave the web preset section in the combo box, the page crashes.

In short the preset box is no longer playing nice with a screen reader. I tried it on FireFox Google Chrome and IE.


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:46 pm 

Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:34 pm
Posts: 1
Is there any news regarding the availability of the Stereo Tool for blind people? The v3.5 interface was very accessible and it worked great. Unfortunately, every subsequent version is not available. The www interface is not based on WCAG 2.0. If this web interface were in WCAG 2.0 standard, then the problem would probably be solved. I have been observing for years with hope that a new version of StereoTool will appear, which will be available to work with screen readers, but I'm starting to lose hope :(


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