Jamie Pauls
My wife is seriously into photography. I am told that she takes wonderful pictures. As someone who has been totally blind since birth, I rely on her descriptions of wildlife, sunsets, and other things that catch her eye and cause her to pull our car off to the side of the road for a quick pic. I, like many other people who are blind or have low vision, am into audio. I enjoy making good-quality recordings of the sounds I hear around me. I am also a musician and need to capture a practice session from time to time. The problem with using a high-quality recorder is making sure that everything is set the way I want it before I press the record button. And once I do press Record, how can I be certain that I am actually capturing the sounds I want?
Zoom makes professional-quality recorders that don’t break the bank. Some of them start at just $99. For years, people who are blind or have low vision have been memorizing menus, counting button presses, and sharing this knowledge with others so that Zoom’s recorders as well as those made by other companies can be used by those of us who are blind or low vision.
In the first part of this year, Zoom released three recorders that have proven to be a game-changer for totally blind audio enthusiasts. Zoom’s H1Essential, H4Essential, and H6Essential recorders all have accessibility built in—something that has not been present with any previous Zoom product. In this article, I would like to highlight some important ways in which Zoom has gotten accessibility right and a few areas still in need of improvement.
First, all three of the recorders mentioned above start up with speech enabled. It is easy enough to turn it off, but whether one is sighted or blind, they will hear the spoken prompts that allow a user to decide whether or not they wish to use the built-in accessibility these recorders provide.
Second, almost all menus speak. The only exception to this is the file list that allows a user to move through files currently on the SD card that must be in the recorder in order to capture audio. Zoom is aware of this issue and hopefully will have a fix for this problem in a future firmware release.
Beeps are available as well as spoken prompts for certain actions. Two of the three recorders allow multiple inputs to be used simultaneously, creating a multitrack recording that can be manipulated in an audio editor or, to some extent, on the recorder itself. It is necessary to arm or disarm these inputs. Upon first release, it was not possible just by listening to the beeps to determine whether or not an input such as a microphone was armed for recording. This has recently been rectified so that a blind user can determine the state of the input source in question.
The volume level of the spoken prompts can be adjusted, but not the speed. As a user who is blind becomes more familiar with the recorder, it would increase productivity to be able to speed up prompts in order to more quickly move through menus and receive important alerts.
Buttons are very tactile in nature and have some distinct differences from one another. Although this is almost certainly not a design that was intended specifically for people who are blind or have low vision, the fact that, for example, the record button is large and easily identifiable adds to the ease of use of these recorders by people who are blind or have low vision. Another design element that aids in accessibility is the fact that these recorders use 32-bit float technology. In the simplest of terms, this means that it is possible to record very loud sounds without clipping or distorting the audio being recorded. It is also possible to make really good recordings of quiet sounds as well. A blind person does not need to constantly keep track of audio levels during recording, but can mix the recording as desired later in an audio editor of their choosing.
One area where accessibility is lacking is in the creation of the manuals for these recorders. Graphics are used to indicate buttons that should be pressed, so a person who is blind attempting to use the manual to learn how to use their recorder will encounter the frustration of not being able to determine what button they should press in order to complete a task. Zoom has made some of their most recent documentation accessible, and hopefully will create all of their manuals in an accessible manner moving forward.
When new firmware is released, the process of updating one’s recorder does not include spoken prompts for the duration of the process. Fortunately, Zoom has created some documentation and YouTube videos giving people who are blind or have low vision added instruction in this process.
If accessible manuals aren’t currently available for these recorders, fortunately audio tutorials produced by people who are blind or have low vision are readily available. I and many others have received much help from the reviews of all three recorders produced by Jonathan Mosen. These tutorials are available in at least two places, one of which is the Blind Podmaker podcast.
There are a number of places where you can purchase the Zoom H1Essential, H4Essential, and H6Essential recorders. One of them is AT Guys.
If you are not part of an audio email list or following someone on social media, it may be difficult to find the latest firmware and accessible guides from Zoom. Perhaps a well-structured site relating to accessibility would be of help, but I have not yet found it if it exists. One good option for learning about the latest and greatest in all things blindness related, Zoom Recorders included, is Jonathan Mosen’s Living Blindfully podcast which you can access online or using any podcast client of your choosing.
The Zoom H1Essential, H4Essential, and H6Essential recorders are mainstream products of high quality with accessibility built in for low vision users. Zoom is to be commended for their work in this area as well as their willingness to engage in regular dialog with the blind community in order to constantly improve their products.
