Finding an accessible synth for a visually impaired person

[blindingSlow]

Hi!
I'm visually impaired, and due to the various accessibility tools I use, many soft synths become inoperable for me.
I'm 43 years old and used to adapting, but there are two issues that I can't adjust to..

1) I use the screen at 900% zoom, which results in only a small portion of what would be the available visible area being displayed, so I have to constantly drag the mouse pointer, which seems silly but causes significant muscle fatigue over time.

2) Adjusting parameter values ​​with the click-and-drag gesture isn't possible because most software (synth or not) doesn't have accessibility in mind and usually it doesn't work or is so complicated and slow that it becomes inoperable.

Therefore, I'd like to ask forum members for help recommending a soft synths under the following criteria (in order of importance to me):

Value Adjustments
- Ability to adjust parameter values ​​using the computer's numeric keypad (Like Ableton Live devices).
- Ability to adjust parameter values ​​using the mouse wheel, or in my case, the trackpad scroll gesture (I’m using Mac OS).
- Extra points if the mouse wheel gesture sensitivity can be adjusted or inverted.

GUI
- Ability to adjust the interface colors or make it predominantly dark. A light-colored background is invisible to me.
- Extra points for compact GUI.

Thank you all for your help.

Please note: It doesn’t’ need to follow all the items above, just one is already a win for me, specially the parameter adjustment thing.

[stoopicus]

This is not what you are asking for, but have you considered a hardware analog synth? These have some serious advantages for you - very little visual interface that you cannot easily magnify by convenient means, tactile and responsive controls, and some outstanding ones at reasonable prices - the Behringer clones are great, there’s stuff likethe Novation bass station, Korg has some great choices, etc and they aren’t that much more than the premium soft synths.

[zerocrossing]

This is not what you are asking for, but have you considered a hardware analog synth? These have some serious advantages for you - very little visual interface that you cannot easily magnify by convenient means, tactile and responsive controls, and some outstanding ones at reasonable prices - the Behringer clones are great, there’s stuff likethe Novation bass station, Korg has some great choices, etc and they aren’t that much more than the premium soft synths.

That was going to be my exact recommendation. Some hardware synths would be perfect for the job, especially ones with very little or no menus and 1:1 control/parameter configurations.

[MrJubbly]

Hi!
I'm visually impaired, and due to the various accessibility tools I use, many soft synths become inoperable for me.
I'm 43 years old and used to adapting, but there are two issues that I can't adjust to...

...Please note: It doesn’t’ need to follow all the items above, just one is already a win for me, specially the parameter adjustment thing.

Hi there! And welcome to the forum.

Having read through your preferred criteria, I can think of a few synths which I believe may meet most of your requirements and might be worth trying.


Twin 3

FabFilter Twin 3.png

Have you perhaps tried the free trial demo for FabFilter Twin 3?
It features a predominantly dark background, albeit not quite black.

Most of the parameter controls can be double-clicked to enter values via a text box with the numerical keypad. Mouse scroll-wheel support is also supported for adjusting parameter values.

It has a user-friendly interface and FF recently added support for a wide range of user resizing and scaling options and customisation.

Twin 3 is a fairly compact plugin design, which, if scaled down may help reduce muscle fatigue due to the mouse scrolling from the zoom accessibility settings you refer to.



Phase Plant

Kilohearts Phase Plant.png

I also feel Kilohearts Phase Plant is highly accessible and may be suitable to your needs. It is also one of the most capable and powerful soft synths available.

Its user interface colours are fully user-customizable (can be set to black background with white text, if that helps) There are many skins available from the developer's Discord. Its user interface is a little larger than the synths mentioned. However, it is a very modular friendly user-interface, which helps.

All the parameter controls can be right-clicked and values entered via the numerical keypad. (Ctrl/Command/Shift) + Mouse scroll-wheel support is also supported for adjusting parameter values (both fine and coarse adjustments.)


Pivot

Fors Pivot.png

Another plugin which is pretty accessible, is the recently released FM synth Fors Pivot. It has an extremely compact and accessible design.

Parameter values can also be double-clicked and then entered via the numerical keypad. Mouse scroll-wheel support is also supported for adjusting parameter values.

Its user interface colours are fully user-customizable (can be set to black background with white text, if that helps).