Mastodawn

Given this is now released, I'm happy to report that the third-party control client for the Elgato Streamdeck, called OpenDeck, is now a lot more accessible for #screenReader and keyboard-only users.
These devices have always had a huge #accessibility barrier in that the only way to assign an action to a key was through a drag-and-drop interface. Elgato has been notified about this, but proved ... let's say ... less than ehtusiastic to fix it. So, I did.

While I can't claim 100% accessibility, primarily because that isn't a thing, I can say I made sure everything I could find was labeled, and that there's now a keyboard-only way of associating buttons, knobs, and touch controls with actions, something the official client does not, and probably will not, support.

I'll be making a video on the ViewpointUnseen youtube channel with all the details soon.

https://github.com/nekename/opendeck

Jay Pellis 3d ago

@jackf723 @zersiax I don't know anything about these, which model to start with ETC. Have heard of and have always been interested. I have an audient evo 16 and all I want to do is stream live music with or without NVDA on the stream. I have a camera too but not sure if I want to get that involved, depending on what these controllers can do. Any suggestions?

@jpellis2008 @jackf723 Not really the same thing, this is a device that lets you map physical buttons to actions on your computer. As for what you want to do, probably just send that audient's signal into OBS or some other streaming or recording tool. NVDA can either go through one of the outs (if Windows lets you select that) or through a separate audio device

Jay Pellis 3d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 Yes, the EVO has software channels so I can rout NVDA in/out of the stream, if I can get it working that is. Even though their software is accessible, part of it isn't that intuitive. Hmm wonder if I can still use one of these for something though? Switching between backing tracks or who knows what?

Jay Pellis 2d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 Ok here is an odd question. My wife has arthritis and the ergonomic keyboard that was purchased for her is not that good. Can she use a deck to basically define a bunch of shortcut keys, select all, copy/paste for word, maybe some stuff for chrome, record/raise hand in zoom, ETC? Non streaming keys?

@jpellis2008 @jackf723 Certainly for some of those, yes. I'm pretty sure there's a Zoom plugin, so you should in theory be able to make a Raise Hand button, but I honestly haven't tried, your mileage may vary

Jay Pellis 2d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 But do they have to use plug ins? What about as I said just remapping regular keys, copy/paste, even say something from jaws?

@jpellis2008 @jackf723 you can do that too, yes, there's a "simulate mouse and keyboard" action where you just type the keys to press

Jay Pellis 2d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 Ok cool thanks. So I just install the open deck software, plug in a deck and go from there? Anything else to be aware of?

@jpellis2008 @jackf723 that's mostly it. You assign actions through ctrl+c from the action list, then ctrl+v on the key you want it on. For each key, tabbing from the key will place you in that action's edit window which lets you set the parameters for the action, so that could be the keystrokes to press for example. Most of these have an explanation of how you're supposed to use them in the window, good to give that a look as sometimes you need special syntax, but it's usually very simple and the vast majority of things just give you checkboxes and dropdowns

Jay Pellis 2d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 I installed it to give it a try, of course without anything connected, it is limited. Are those explanations you mentione read out automatically or would you have to use object nav or something? Sorry about all the questions, I really appreciate the help. This could help my wife so so so much with zoom meetings, word, recording youtube videos, eventually doing streams, all kinds of shortcuts!

@jpellis2008 @jackf723 it's just a web app :) so you can use browse mode to read those explanations, focus mode to deal with the interactive bits

Jay Pellis 2d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 Oh ok yes I saw that. I thought there may be extra things that may not read on their own ETC. I am very excited!

André Polykanine 2d ago

@zersiax florian, be honest, do you know telepathy? We talked about that on a Russian-language YouTube stream, and my friend presented Elgato Stream Deck. I said I want this right now, only it's not accessible. So it's you who did that?

@menelion hah. yep, proper wizard

André Polykanine 2d ago

@zersiax Have you tested this: https://bitfocus.io/companion.

Bitfocus - Companion

Companion elevates the affordable Elgato Stream Deck and similar devices into professional control surfaces for an extensive range of equipment and applications. From presentation switchers and broadcast equipment to video playback software and home automation systems, Companion delivers studio-grade control, putting powerful workflows right at your fingertips.

@menelion I did see this,yes, I think at the time I concluded it didn't really fit my use cases but it might work for others, I forget what made me dismiss it

Jakob Rosin 2d ago

@zersiax This is fantastic. I've thought of the stream deck for a while, haven't found enough usecases to justify it though. What do you use it for?

@jakobrosin This might completely blow your mind but primarily ... streaming :) It's very convenient to quickly call up specific settings in programs like OBS, Spotify, my Hue lights and such.
I could see it in a broader sense for just having buttons you can punch that always do the same thing so you don't have to remember hotkeys though, or a sample player for radio makers, it can macro so you could add a bunch of actions you routinely do over and over to a single key etc

Jakob Rosin 2d ago

@zersiax I suspected you are using it for streaming haha. Yeah I was imagining it to be very useful for macros and controlling radio broadcasts

Steven Scott 2d ago

@zersiax @FreakyFwoof How do you assign an action to a key? Can’t figure out. I can find the actions I can select the key but I cannot get the action to assign

@stevenscott @FreakyFwoof You copy-paste :) ctrl+c on action, ctrl+v on key.

@stevenscott @FreakyFwoof note, it'll say "no selection" or similar when copying with some screen readers. I'm still working on fixing that, but you should see your action on the key after paste

Andre Louis 2d ago

@zersiax I do wonder why the Elgato Studio app is nice and accessible (certainly on Mac) but the stream deck app is not. At least that's what I'm told. I don't personally own one, but I do own one of their 4K capture cards.
@stevenscott

Steven Scott 2d ago

@FreakyFwoof @zersiax I didn’t even know such a thing existed. Also, I wouldn’t go playing usually based on previous experience.

@FreakyFwoof @stevenscott I spoke to an engineering manager about this about a year ago and they asked me if their "new apps" like Studio were any better then the Streamdeck app, which I reported to be unusable with screen readers at the time. I noticed that shift as well, it looks like they opted for different UI toolkits for later applications and at least for the moment, have not transitioned the Straemdeck to that new way of working. I was told that they had investigated making the Streamdeck app accessible at my request but that the weren't able to find a way to fix it in the short or even medium term, which to me sounds like corporate speak for "go away we're busy".

Steven Scott 2d ago

@zersiax @FreakyFwoof Okay, this is wonderful. You must come onto Double Tap.

@stevenscott @FreakyFwoof Happy to! :)

Liam Erven 2d ago

@zersiax I'll check it out as I have to get help each time I want to update my streamdeck

@lerven Be aware that Elgato, to make it easier for us, is now defaulting to putting DRM on marketplace plugins, which makes them not work with OpenDeck and other third parties. Completely coincidental, I'm sure.
The maintainer maintains an archive of last known good versions OpenDeck can download from, which makes this far less of an issue than it would otherwise be, it's a button in the plugin window.

Liam Erven 2d ago

@zersiax What a surprise. heh.

André Polykanine 2d ago

@zersiax My friend praised you a lot, he called me just to talk about OpenDeck. There are some issues related to sighted people (he has tinny-tiny remainder of sight), for example, in the original elgato app you can choose icons that would be shown on the Elgato buttons. So maybe he'll open some issues, maybe not. I told him I could help you, but I have no StreamDeck myself yet.

Michael Babcock 2d ago

@zersiax @jackf723 Pure magic I tell you thank you