After the whirlwind tour around the world at Music China, The Kakehashi Foundation, Tokyo Gakki Fair and Music Tectonics, The MIDI Association MASSIG was well represented at Audio Developers Conference in Bristol, UK.
Workshop 5: Interactive Panel: Accessibility in Audio Tech
13:30 – 17:00 UTC | Monday 10th November 2025 | Bristol 3
As audio production techniques and technologies evolve, so too must the ways we think about accessibility. To improve inclusion in music-making, it is essential that access is evaluated throughout the design of audio technology, not as an add-on or afterthought.
Building on ADC24’s ‘Inclusive Design in Audio Products: Why, Why, How?’ workshop, this symposium comprises a series of sessions that will unpick the systematic barriers to accessibility within audio, and highlight solutions that you can embed into your projects.
Throughout the afternoon, disabled musicians, accessibility consultants, and representatives from organisations driving change will share insights into the opportunities for a more inclusive audio industry. Attendees will help collate a list of inclusive design principles to demystify accessible product development in future.
The concepts covered will be suitable for beginner, intermediate, and advanced audio programmers, though the sessions will not delve too deeply into code examples.
Most of the members of the panel regularly attend the Music Accessibility Standard Special Interest Group of the MIDI Association that meets every week on Thursday morning 8 am Pacific time.
Contributors
- Jay Pocknell (RNIB; Sound Without Sight) MASSIG
- Liza Bec (Musician; BMV Records)
- Mxshi Mo (Musician)
- Tim Yates (Drake Music) MASSIG
- Tim Burgess (Accessibility Consultant) MASSIG
- Tim Adnitt (Native Instruments) MASSIG
- Sam Prouse (Accessibility Consultant) MASSIG
- David Shervill (Global Music Visions) MASSIG
Building Inclusive Audio Tools: Accessibility with ARIA, WCAG, and Real-World Projects
Wednesday 12 November, 09:00 – 09:50 UTC, Bristol 3 and online. Presented by Samual Prouse and David Shervill:
In this talk, Sam and Dave demonstrated how accessibility is not a feature, but a foundation—especially in audio software. Using a mature front-end toolkit and WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes, they showed how developers can build interfaces that are both powerful and inclusive, without compromising on complexity or creativity. Drawing from a range of audio projects they have built—synthesizers, sequencers, and sound design tools—they walked through how ARIA roles, properties, and states can be applied effectively. They shared practical examples of making sliders, dropdowns, modmatrices, and other complex UI components screen reader–friendly. The aim is to demystify accessibility and prove it can be integrated from the ground up with thoughtful markup and interaction design.
In addition to implementation, they touched on the broader accessibility landscape, including guidelines from WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and standards from ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). These provide essential frameworks that help ensure our tools can be used by everyone— including blind and low vision users, keyboard-only users, and others with diverse needs.
Whether you’re building DAWs, plugins, or experimental instruments, this talk will equip you with the knowledge and mindset to make your audio software accessible by design.
The MIDI Association, Sound Without Sight and Drake Music sponsored the Accessibility Zone at ADC 2025.
Antony Nasce from 5of12 manned the MIDI Association accessibility table at ADC that featured the same accessible, interactive gear (Connect Through MIDI as the core software connecting up the Arcana Strum, the Oddball, the Cosmos Dots, the Drum Beam) that we had at Music Tectonics , Music China, and Tokyo Gakki Fair.
Sound Without Sight and Drake Music had a table right next to us focused on Sound Without Sight’s ongoing efforts to promote accessibility for everyone and Drake Music’s efforts to create an accessible musical instrument collection.
