Hi, I'm a blind/low-vision user and I've been a loyal Studio One user for some time. However, as I continue to lose my vision, the lack of accessibility features in Studio One has me frustrated to the point that I will be unable to continue to use this software soon. In fact, soon I may actively suggest that others avoid the software due to the lack of attention to accessibility features.
I use a screen-reader for Windows called NVDA that reports the text contents of the screen, like in menus or dialog boxes. In some programs not designed with accessibility in mind,, the screen reader is unable to report the text. As of 2024, this happens in many fewer programs than it did ten years ago, but Studio One consistently has absolutely zero compatibility with screen readers. None of the menus, dropdowns, channel strips, track names, inspector, browser or events can be read by a screen reader, and I suspect it's the same for VoiceOver users on Mac. I paid for Studio One because I wanted to support all of the work the devs put into making Studio One so user-friendly, but it's actively ignoring some of their users.
Reaper is screen-reader compatible as-is, and an accessibility add-on suite makes it fully compatible. The entire DAW can be used with a keyboard, and after much practice and training, a blind user could feasibly record, mix and master without a computer monitor. In studio One, I can't even create a new project file with my screen reader.
Accessibility features are becoming standardized now, and ifPreSonus doesn't make some much needed changes to the usability of their software for blind/low-vision users soon, I'm switching to Reaper and ensuring that I let everyone I know who is interested in music production or my process that Studio One does not take accessibility into account at all.
I want to keep using this software and I want to keep speaking highly of it to folks I know who swear by Ableton or Logic. It really can do anything those DAWs can do, but if I can't use it, I have to leave.