Feature requests for visually impaired users.

Hi folks,
I am blind, and, though music is mostly a listening game, using good equipment is not. One small problem I expect I will have with the BB is finding a particular “song” or folder.

Please let me first explain the problem.
One problem with systems which use menus is that the menus often wrap. So, when you step forward or backward through a menu or a listing and get to the first or last option, the system does not stop, it wraps automatically to the other end of the list.

So, a blind person could very easily get lost in the menus without a known point of reference and a way to get there.
I would like to make a couple of suggestions to make this easier.

the first request is a way to turn off the menu wrapping. When you press the down arrow and you get to the end of the menu, it should stop and not go any further. To get back to the top of the menu, you need to press up arrow.

The second suggestion has to do with the foot switch and stepping forward through the songs in a folder. I suggest a “jump to first song or folder” command.
As it stands now, one of the external foot switches can be programmed to step through the available songs in a folder. I would like to suggest that a quick double press of this same foot switch should put the user on the first song in the folder. Then the blind user will know exactly where he is, and can count to the right song.

Of course I understand that these suggestions may not be useful or desirable for all users, but they might. I also understand that they may not be in high demand and might be difficult to implement, but there’s no harm in asking.

thanks so much!

Rusty

Re: Some feature requests

I think that there should definitely be an option to disable menu wrapping.

Re: Some feature requests

Just brainstorming, but I wonder if adding a song part to the start of your songs such that when you step on the pedal it basically tells you what song is selected . Sort of like an intro, so you’ll know you’re in the right place. It could even be an accent hit, 1 hit for song 1, 2 hits for song 2, that kind of thing. Maybe vary the accent hits for each folder. Again, I’m not visually impaired, so I’m not sure that would help, but it seems like it might.

Re: Some feature requests

Having a BeatBuddy Narrator would be an awesome feature. Not sure it would be easy to add, as it will “eat” some of the already limited BeatBuddy resources.

Re: Some feature requests

Thanks for the thoughts!
If possible, it is usually preferable to improve accessibility in the simplest most invisible way.
though I appreciate the thought, adding something audible, particularly something which comes through the PA would not be desirable. I’d rather not attract more attention than necessary. :slight_smile:

Just a little bit of help goes a long way, like nonrapping menus, and a command to jump to the top of the menu.

It is my plan to set up specific directorys with songs, maybe one sd card for my performances which only has one directory, my current song list.

by the way, could someone please tell me, when BeatBuddy powers up, does it start exactly where you left off, or is there a specific place that the BB boots up to?

Here’s what I mean. Could BB boot up in to a specific directory or does it already do this?

Once again, the name of the game is having a known starting point. Could a mod possibly rename this thread to “features for blind users” or something like that?

thanks!
Rusty

Re: Some feature requests

Granted :stuck_out_tongue: