The Qualities of Convivial Tools and Their Relevance to Music Software Accessibility
Alex Lucas, James Cunningham, Jacob Harrison, Franziska Schroeder, Andrew McPherson · 2025 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/3733606
Summary
This qualitative study explores how visually impaired and blind (VIB) people access digital audio workstations (DAWs) for creative sound work, drawing on Ivan Illich's concept of "convivial tools" to frame accessibility recommendations. The authors conducted 2-hour remote interviews with 20 VIB sound creatives (VIBSCs) from 10 countries, combining semi-structured interviews with contextual enquiry where participants demonstrated their workflows. Participants ranged from beginners to advanced users, working across music production, composition, audio engineering, and sound design. The research employed reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke's six-phase process. Notably, one of the three primary authors is severely visually impaired, bringing lived experience to the analysis. The study recruited participants through online communities including Reapers without Peepers, MIDIMag, Logic Accessibility, and Pro Tools Access groups. Most participants used Reaper, Logic Pro, or Pro Tools, relying on screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS) and accessibility extensions like OSARA and Flo Tools. The theoretical framework draws on Illich's critique of how tools can move beyond initial usefulness to control users (the "second watershed"), and his vision of convivial tools that are easy to learn, allow user autonomy, and adapt to preferences. The authors also draw on fourth-wave HCI concepts emphasizing that design cannot be separated from use, and that tools should be malleable to evolving community requirements.
Key findings
The analysis identified five major themes revealing three interconnected gaps affecting VIB access to music software: **Education Gap**: Formal music technology education often fails VIB learners due to: educators lacking awareness of accessible teaching methods; inadequate institutional accommodations; financial/resource deficits for accessible tools; and curricula biased toward sighted workflows. Five participants described themselves as self-taught due to these barriers. **Information Gap**: VIBSCs face a dearth of accessible information about DAW workflows, plugin accessibility, and techniques. Online communities address this through: sharing software experiences; providing real-time troubleshooting via WhatsApp and Discord; maintaining tutorial repositories; and collectively testing and reporting on product accessibility. **Technology Gap**: Limited DAW options exist with adequate screen reader support. The community has responded by developing tools like OSARA (an open-source Reaper accessibility extension) and Flo Tools (Pro Tools automation scripts). Reaper's extensible SDK enables community-developed accessibility solutions, demonstrating how proprietary software can support "convivial" modification. The study found that VIB communities of practice exhibit key characteristics: diverse knowledge across platforms and tools; welcoming stance toward newcomers; mentorship and knowledge-passing culture; organic evolution through member participation; and integration with auxiliary support networks of sighted collaborators. Access strategies combine both workflow modifications and asset-based solutions (scripts, extensions, accessible presets).
Relevance
The paper proposes three "Convivial Accessibility Design Guidelines" directly applicable to software development: 1. **Build accessible ecosystems**: Ensure all supporting materials (tutorials, manuals, documentation) are accessible, not just the core software. Avoid relying solely on visual cues in instructional content. 2. **Embrace interdependent access**: Recognize disabled users as potential designers and collaborators, not just consumers. Actively highlight and support community accessibility efforts through product websites, interviews with community members, and sponsorship. 3. **Design for designers**: Provide low-level API access and extensibility so disabled users can adapt software to their needs. Cockos Reaper demonstrates this model—proprietary but extensible, enabling community-developed accessibility tools like OSARA. For practitioners, this research reframes accessibility from compliance to community partnership. The "invisible labour" of VIB communities in making software accessible benefits vendors whose products gain functionality through community effort. The paper challenges the independence-focused framing common in assistive technology, advocating instead for "interdependence" that values collective knowledge and mutual support. Organizations should consider how their software enables or prevents community-driven accessibility solutions.
Tags: visual impairment · blindness · digital audio workstations · music accessibility · communities of practice · conviviality · screen readers · assistive technology · inclusive design
Standards referenced: WCAG