From a Simple Audio Recording to a New Creative World.
Sometimes a new product begins with a grand plan. Sometimes it begins because one person needs to complete a seemingly ordinary task and discovers that the available tools make it far more difficult than it ought to be.
MediAccess began with one of those ordinary tasks.
Someone needed to record a video demonstration for work. That should have meant choosing what to record, pressing a key, carrying out the demonstration and saving the result. Instead, the process exposed familiar barriers: controls which were difficult to reach with a screen reader, visual choices which could not be checked independently, and uncertainty about whether the finished recording contained what it was supposed to contain.
That frustrating experience led to a much bigger question. Could there be one accessible application in which a blind person could record, edit and work with media without constantly having to fight an interface designed around sight?
The answer is MediAccess.
MediAccess is a new Windows application produced by Hartgen Consultancy in association with Desiree Simeone. It has been designed for people using JAWS for Windows and is scheduled for release in January 2027.
It can help you record and edit audio. It can record the computer screen, sound from Windows, a microphone and a webcam. It can help with screenshots, pictures, video, transcription and captions. It can bring separate recordings together into a finished production. Most importantly, it brings these activities into an environment intended to be understood and operated from the keyboard.
That is the short description. The story behind the product explains why it matters.
The Story Behind MediAccess.
Desiree was born blind. Her experience of audio editing began in 1998 when she bought Cakewalk.
Cakewalk had not been developed to be accessible to blind people. It needed extensive scripting, and even then Desiree did not have access to everything a sighted user could reach.
The same pattern repeated itself for the next 28 years. She worked with GoldWave, Audacity and REAPER. Some of those products were free and some were products she paid for, but the underlying experience was familiar: she had less access, less certainty and considerably more frustration than a sighted person carrying out the same task.
Audio was only part of the story.
Desiree's daughters are all interested in visual art. They would draw pictures and describe them to her, and she would save their creations. She was proud of their work, but she could not return to those pictures later and explore them with anything like the independence a sighted parent might take for granted.
There were similar barriers in professional life. Then came the work assignment which changed everything: Desiree needed to record a video demonstration.
She tried to use the Windows Snipping Tool and discovered that it did not give her the access she needed. Rather than accepting that the task would always require help, she began to explore whether she could create something better.
At first, the aim was to make an accessible tool for capturing the screen. Once work began, the possibilities grew. Perhaps the same application could record audio. Perhaps it could provide a genuinely accessible editor. Perhaps it could help a blind person understand what had actually been captured in a screenshot or video. Perhaps it could even provide a way into the pictures and artwork which had previously been so difficult to revisit.
There were inevitably difficult days when it was not clear whether all of this could be brought together. Desiree had the love and support of her husband, together with patient encouragement from Brian Hartgen. Two months later, the rapidly growing application arrived at what Desiree affectionately calls the Hartgen School for Unfinished Apps.
The collaboration which followed has shaped MediAccess into the product we are now preparing to release.
Today, Desiree uses MediAccess as her audio editor. She is captioning videos, something she had not believed possible only a short time earlier. She can submit screenshots to colleagues with far greater confidence that they show the visual information needed to explain a product or usability issue. She can send pictures of her daughters' creations for description, return to them later, and even use suitable artwork in connection with songs or podcasts.
As Desiree puts it, she is able to participate in the artistic space, both audio and visual, for the first time.
That is the purpose at the heart of MediAccess. It is not simply to make a collection of controls speak. It is to make creative and practical activities more understandable, more predictable and more independent.
It Is Not Only About Video.
Because MediAccess can record a screen, work with pictures, inspect screenshots and help create captioned video, it would be easy to assume that it is primarily a multimedia or video-production application.
It is certainly very capable in those areas. However, you do not need to record a screen, use a webcam, create captions or work with a single picture in order for MediAccess to be useful.
MediAccess can be used purely as an audio recorder and editor.
You may want to record your voice, an interview, a lecture, a meeting, a musical performance or a short announcement. You may already have an audio file from another source and simply want to remove a mistake, shorten a long pause, change the order of two sections or save it in a more convenient format.
That is a complete and valuable use of the product.
You can begin with one microphone. Choose it, make a short test, record a few sentences and listen to the result. There is no need to begin by learning the language of a recording studio.
If you want to go further, you can. You might combine speech with music, bring several speakers together, place sound effects at particular points or keep recordings from several microphones on separate tracks. You can adjust the balance, make music arrive gradually, lower it beneath an announcement and allow it to rise again afterward.
The important point is that these possibilities are available when you need them. They are not hurdles which must be crossed before you can make one straightforward recording.
Someone could purchase MediAccess, use only its audio features and obtain considerable benefit from it. A podcaster could record and edit an episode. A broadcaster could prepare interviews and announcements. A musician could combine performances. A teacher could record lessons. A person who had never edited anything before could remove one false start from a voice recording and save the corrected version.
MediAccess is a multimedia application, but it is also an accessible audio application in its own right.
Start With What You Need Today.
One of the guiding ideas behind MediAccess is that people should not have to understand the whole product before accomplishing something useful.
If your immediate need is to record your voice, begin there. Choose a microphone, make a test recording and listen.
If you already have an audio file containing a mistake, open it, find the unwanted passage, listen to the proposed edit and remove it.
If you need to demonstrate a piece of software, record the screen together with your voice and the sound from the computer.
If a colleague asks for a screenshot, capture the required application window and obtain information about what the image contains before sending it.
If you have an interview, music and an introduction which need to become one programme, place them on separate tracks and build the production a stage at a time.
The application does not insist upon one particular starting point. It allows a simple task to remain simple while leaving room for a project to grow.
Recording Without Guesswork.
Even a basic recording raises questions. Is the correct microphone selected? Is the voice clear? Is it too quiet? Has the computer sound overwhelmed the speaker? If a screen or webcam is involved, has the right picture been captured?
MediAccess encourages a short test before an important recording. You can listen to the sound and make adjustments before committing yourself to a long session.
When several sources are being recorded, MediAccess can create a convenient combined version while also retaining separate material. For example, a demonstration may contain your microphone and sound from the computer. The ready-made mix is available for immediate listening, while the separate recordings provide more control if the balance needs changing later.
This is helpful to beginners and experienced users for different reasons. A beginner has a recording which can be played immediately. A more experienced editor has the separate sources needed for detailed work.
Editing Which Does Not Depend on a Picture.
Many audio editors present sound as a visible waveform. A sighted person can point to part of that waveform, drag it, resize it or judge a loud passage by looking at its shape.
MediAccess approaches editing through listening, time, named items and keyboard commands.
You can play the recording, pause near a mistake and move in increasingly small steps. You can mark the beginning and end of the unwanted section, listen to what you selected and hear how the remaining words are likely to meet. If the edit does not sound natural, adjust it before making the cut.
You can divide a recording into sections, give those sections meaningful names, copy them, move them, join them or remove them. Undo is available if a decision was wrong.
Again, the first task need not be complicated. Removing a false start, shortening a silence or moving one paragraph may be all that is required.
When One Recording Becomes a Production.
A more ambitious project may contain several elements. A podcast could have opening music, a spoken introduction, an interview, a closing announcement and music at the end. A training lesson could contain the presenter's microphone, computer sound and perhaps additional recorded examples.
MediAccess can keep those elements on separate tracks which share the same clock. You can listen to everything together or concentrate on one track. You can make one track quieter without changing another, move an item to a better position and retain the separate parts while deciding how the finished programme should sound.
Terms such as multitrack, gain, fade and ducking can sound intimidating. The ideas are much friendlier when connected with an ordinary task.
A track is simply one layer of the programme, such as the voice or music. A fade allows sound to arrive or disappear gradually. Ducking lowers background music while someone speaks, then allows it to return. Gain is one way of describing how much the level is raised or lowered.
MediAccess and its extensive User Guide explain these ideas when they become useful. You can follow a structured procedure without first becoming a sound engineer.
Moving Beyond Audio When You Are Ready.
For some users, the audio tools will be the principal reason for owning MediAccess. Others will want to move into screen recording and visual media.
A trainer may need to record a software demonstration containing the screen, JAWS and a spoken explanation. A support worker may need to capture an error message. A blind employee may need confidence that a screenshot contains the intended window rather than an unrelated notification. A content creator may need captions added to a finished video. Someone may want to understand a photograph or create artwork for a podcast.
MediAccess brings these tasks into the same general environment. You can capture a named application window rather than drawing a rectangle with a mouse. You can request a description of a screenshot or selected moments from a video. You can ask a specific question instead of accepting only a broad description. You can create and review captions, or develop an image from written ideas and receive information about what was actually generated.
These features do not make every visual judgement infallible. MediAccess is careful about that. A description based upon selected moments cannot promise that every frame of a long video is perfect, and artificially generated or revised pictures still need responsible checking. The aim is not to pretend that uncertainty has vanished. The aim is to provide far more information, choice and control than the user had before.
Designed Around JAWS and the Keyboard.
MediAccess functions with JAWS for Windows. Standard controls allow familiar movement with Tab, Shift+Tab, the Arrow keys, Enter and Space.
A Guided mode can provide additional spoken hints while someone is learning. Detailed help is available for the control which currently has focus, explaining what it does, when it may be useful and what to expect after using it. The complete User Guide can be opened from within the application.
There is also a searchable Command Centre. If you know that you want to make a recording, convert a file or work with a screenshot but cannot remember the menu or shortcut, you can search for the action by name.
This support matters because MediAccess contains many capabilities. A large application becomes much less welcoming if the user is expected to memorise it before beginning. Help should be available at the point where a question arises.
Who Might Use MediAccess?
MediAccess could be useful to:
- Someone making a first voice recording.
- A podcaster editing speech and music.
- A broadcaster preparing interviews, features or announcements.
- A musician bringing recordings together.
- A teacher recording lessons.
- A trainer producing a screen-reader demonstration.
- An employee who needs to capture and check screenshots.
- A content creator preparing captions or a video.
- A blind person who wants greater access to pictures and visual creativity.
These people will not all use the same features. They do not need to.
The person editing audio only is not using an incomplete version of MediAccess. The person making one microphone recording is not expected to progress to video. The product is intended to meet people at the task they actually need to complete.
Price and Availability.
MediAccess is scheduled for release in January 2027.
The standard price will be £100 UK, approximately $130 US.
An introductory pre-order offer will run from late October 2026 until the end of December 2026. During that period, MediAccess will cost £80 UK, approximately $100 US.
Further ordering information will be published by Hartgen Consultancy nearer the opening of the pre-order period.
MediAccess functions with JAWS for Windows only. It requires a 64-bit computer running Windows 10 or later.
One Application, Many Ways to Begin.
MediAccess grew from frustration, curiosity and the conviction that blind people should have a more direct route into activities which others take for granted.
For Desiree, that route began with inaccessible audio editors, a work demonstration and a wish to participate more fully in her daughters' artistic world. It has grown into an application she now uses for her own audio editing, screenshots, pictures and captioned video.
Other people will enter through different doors.
One person may record a microphone and remove a mistake. Another may produce an audio programme containing music and several speakers. Someone else may create a software demonstration, inspect a screenshot or prepare a captioned video.
All of those are valid uses of MediAccess.
In Part 2, we will move beyond this gentle introduction and explore the product in much greater depth. We will examine how sources are recorded separately, how keyboard editing works, what can be achieved in a multitrack project, and how MediAccess approaches screenshots, captions, pictures, video, online services and privacy.
For now, the most important point is simpler.
MediAccess is not asking blind people to fit themselves around another inaccessible media application. It is being built around the way they need to listen, understand, decide and create.