Assistive Technology and accessibility - Vangelis

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1 Zynthian Accessible Technology

Zynthian aspires to be as accessible as possible. That includes publishing the source code and hardware designs with open source licences, providing low cost access to hardware and making the user interface accessible to as many people as we can. This document describes some of the ways we try to achieve this.

1.1 Physical device

Zynthian V5 is a metal box with user controls on its front or top panel, and interface connectors on the rear.

1.1.1 Front Panel

The front (or top) panel has 20 rubber buttons on its left hand side, arranged in a grid of four wide and five high. The STOP button, located in the second column, third row, has a raised dimple to give some location registration to the user. There are four endless knobs arranged in a vertical column on the right hand side. Each knob may be pressed to trigger a switch operation. A touchscreen lies between these. All control can be done with the buttons and knobs. The touchscreen offers some alternative access to functions but is not required to control the zynthian.

The button layout is:

  • Top row:
    • Option menu
    • Mixer
    • Control and presets
    • ZS3 and snapshot
  • Second row:
    • Alternative function toggle or, ALT button
    • Tempo
    • Step sequencer
    • Function 1
  • Third row:
    • Record
    • Stop
    • Play
    • Function 2
  • Fourth row:
    • Back or cancel
    • Up arrow
    • Select or confirm
    • Function 3
  • Bottom row:
    • Left arrow
    • Down arrow
    • Right arrow
    • Function 4 or, ZynSpeak button

The knobs or rotary encoders are numbered 1 to 4. 1 is the furthest away and 4 is the closest.

1.1.2 Rear Panel

The rear panel has the physical connectors. From left to right, with the back facing away from you, (that is right to left if looking at the back) these are:

  • Headphones: 6.35mm or 1/4 inch jack socket providing stereo audio output for monitoring.
  • Audio Outputs 1 and 2: 6.35mm or 1/4 inch jack sockets providing balanced TRS or single-ended TS signals.
  • Audio Inputs 1 and 2: 6.35mm or 1/4 inch jack sockets accepting balanced TRS or single-ended TS signals.
  • MIDI In: 5-pin DIN socket accepting standard MIDI 1.0 signal.
  • MIDI Thru: 5-pin DIN socket passing a buffered copy of the MIDI In signal.
  • MIDI Out: 5-pin DIN socket providing standard MIDI 1.0 signal.
  • Network: RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
  • USB: 4 USB type-A connectors.
  • USB Peripheral: A USB type-B socket allowing connection to a host device, like a personal computer exposing zynthain as a USB MIDI device to that host.
  • Power switch: Connects power to the internal power circuit. This is a hard switch and does not perform a controlled shutdown.
  • Power inlet: Accepts a 5.5 x 2.5 mm, center-positive barrel connector supplying 12V to 24V DC.

1.2 Software

There are some configuration options to make zynthian more accessible.

1.2.1 ZynSpeak

ZynSpeak is the zynthian's text-to-speech assistive technology that provides audible prompts to assist users with reduced vision. It is enabled and disabled by pressing and holding the ZynSpeak button, which is the bottom right front panel button. Audio is provided via the first available audio output (that is not configured as the zynthian's main audio output). This could be a plugin USB audio device.

1.2.2 Help

There is a help system built into zynthian that is accessed by pressing the ALT button for 1.5 seconds then releasing. (Remember, the ALT button is located in the first column and second row from the top.) When ZynSpeak is enabled, help information will be spoken for the current view.

Knob 3 assists the help reader. Pressing knob 3 will toggle pause, stopping playback or resuming from the start of the current sentence. Rotating knob 3 will select the previous or next sentence. Bold pressing knob 3 will announce the actions for the knobs in this view, including their rotation, press, and bold press actions. The Navigator button may be used to stop or restart from the beginning of the page. Press knob 4 to toggle hyperlink mode. Rotate knob 4 to select a link then press knob 4 to follow the link. Press back to exit link mode. The first link on each page is to an index of all available help pages. If there are no other links on the page, pressing knob 4 will immediately access the index.

There is a dedicated help page for ZynSpeak that you should review for full details.

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