Make your recordings easier to listen to with Accessible Auphonic, a free Windows application designed for keyboard use with JAWS and NVDA. It gives you a straightforward way to use Auphonic, an online service that improves recordings you have already made.
Perhaps one person in an interview is much quieter than another, a fan is humming behind the speaker, or a voice sounds muffled. Accessible Auphonic lets you choose which improvements to try, send the recording to Auphonic and download the finished result. It can be useful for podcasts, interviews, lessons, spoken books and other speech recordings.
Produced by Hartgen Consultancy in association with Desiree Simione.
Read the User Guide
Read the Accessible Auphonic User Guide online
The guide begins with an explanation of Auphonic and takes you through installing the app, connecting your account and making your first finished recording. It uses everyday language, describes what to listen for and gives step-by-step keyboard instructions. It also covers presets, sound settings, portable use, updating, troubleshooting and the full keyboard reference.
A copy of the guide is included with both downloads below. Press F1 in the app to open it; the included guide can be read without an internet connection. Press Shift+F1 for help about the control you are using. Press Control+Shift+C to open the Accessible Auphonic Command Centre and find an action by name.
Download Accessible Auphonic
Version 1.0. This is the first official version.
Choose the installer for a normal installation, or the portable ZIP if you prefer to keep the application in a folder of your choice. These downloads are for 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11. The application is free of charge. Auphonic’s online processing has its own free allowance and paid options, explained below.
Download the Accessible Auphonic 1.0 installer for Windows (ZIP)
Save the ZIP, open it and run the Accessible Auphonic Setup installer inside. The setup wizard lets you choose the application folder and shortcuts. The User Guide explains each step and each screen. This is the simplest choice if you normally install applications on your computer.
Download Accessible Auphonic 1.0 Portable for Windows (ZIP)
Save the ZIP and use Windows Extract All to unpack it into a folder. Open that folder and run Accessible Auphonic.exe. Keep all its files together. The portable edition keeps its preferences in its own Data folder; if you move it to another computer, you may need to enter your Auphonic API key again.
Both editions include Check for updates on the Help menu. Press Alt+H, then D to check. You decide when to update. If you already have the current version, the same command can reinstall it to repair application files.
What You Can Do with the App
- Work on one recording, process a list of recordings in turn, or combine separate, prepared microphone and music tracks.
- Choose a preset, which is a saved group of settings, or make your own choices for balancing voices, reducing background sound and adjusting voice tone.
- Choose the finished audio format, such as MP3 for a convenient listening copy or WAV for further work.
- Try an audition, a short processed sample, before deciding which sound settings to use for the complete recording.
- Add programme information and cover artwork, check your available processing time, and use History to find earlier results, download their files or delete productions.
Your original recording stays in place. Use your usual recording or editing application to record new material, remove mistakes or rearrange sections. Accessible Auphonic sends a copy to the online service for the sound processing you choose.
Before Your First Recording
You need an internet connection, an Auphonic account and an API key. An API key is a private access code that lets the app use your account; you do not need to know anything about programming. Chapter 2 of the User Guide explains how to obtain the key and enter it in the app. Keep it private.
Auphonic measures processing time by the length of the recording, rather than how long you spend choosing settings. Its free allowance currently includes two hours each month, and free productions include a short Auphonic jingle. Paid options provide additional time and features. Use the pricing link below to check the current conditions before choosing a plan.
Begin with a short recording you know well. Compare the result with the original and listen to the voice as well as the background. Stronger processing is not always better. Each audition and full production started by Accessible Auphonic is a separate job using your Auphonic allowance.
Auphonic Accounts, Plans and Help
Visit the official Auphonic website
Start here for an overview of the service, its features and ways to use it. You can also sign in and work with Auphonic in your browser.
Use this page if you have not used Auphonic before. If you already have an account, use that account with Accessible Auphonic.
Open Auphonic account settings
Sign in to manage your account, check available processing time and create or remove API keys.
Read Auphonic’s explanation of API keys
This is the service’s own reference for creating, naming and removing access keys. For the beginner-friendly keyboard walkthrough, use Chapter 2 of the Accessible Auphonic User Guide.
Check Auphonic’s free allowance, paid plans and processing rules
Compare the free service, recurring allowances and one-time credit purchases. This page also explains which features need paid usage and how processing time is charged.
Browse the official Auphonic Help
Find Auphonic’s own instructions and explanations. These describe the wider service and its website; use our User Guide for the controls and keystrokes in Accessible Auphonic.
Listen to Examples and Understand the Sound Changes
Listen to Auphonic’s before-and-after audio examples
This is a useful first stop if you are unsure what an improvement might sound like. Compare examples of noise reduction, voice balancing, tone changes and other features.
Understand noise reduction and echoey rooms
Learn how Auphonic reduces distracting background sound and the lingering sound of a room. The different methods matter when you want to keep music, sound effects or the atmosphere of a location.
Understand the Adaptive Leveler
Read about bringing quiet and loud speakers closer together in volume, so the listener does not need to keep reaching for the volume control.
Understand loudness and controlling loud moments
This background article explains two different jobs: giving programmes a consistent overall listening level, and reducing the difference between quiet and loud passages within a recording.
Hear how Voice AutoEQ can change voice tone
AutoEQ adjusts the balance of lower and higher sounds in a voice. This introduction includes listening examples, such as making sharp speech more comfortable to hear.
Hear bandwidth extension on muffled and older recordings
Bandwidth extension tries to recreate higher sounds that are missing from a recording, such as a muffled telephone call. The examples help you judge the change in clarity and naturalness.
Explore Studio Voice Beta and its audio examples
Read about a more extensive treatment for damaged or distorted speech. Compare its examples carefully: improving clarity can also change how a voice sounds. Beta means the feature is still being developed.
Presets, Separate Tracks and Written Results
Explore Auphonic’s production settings
A production is one processing job. This reference explains the service’s choices for recordings, programme information, sound processing and finished files. It is useful when you want more detail about settings saved in an Auphonic preset.
Learn about combining separate tracks
Use this explanation when each speaker or piece of music has its own recording. In Accessible Auphonic, the files need to be prepared so they already start at the correct shared point in time.
Understand foreground speech and background music
Learn how track roles affect the mix. Ducking means lowering background music while someone speaks, then allowing it to rise again afterwards.
Learn about transcripts, summaries and automatic chapters
A transcript is a written version of speech. A summary outlines the main points, and chapters help a listener jump to a topic. These are Auphonic service features available through suitable saved presets, including Automatic Chapters, Summary and Transcript when it is in your account. Our User Guide explains how to try that preset and retrieve its results. These features require paid Auphonic usage; review generated text before sharing it.
Auphonic News and Service Information
Find new feature announcements, practical explanations and further listening examples. Older articles may describe earlier versions of the service.
Check the Auphonic service status
If uploads or processing are not working as expected, check here for reported service problems.
Use Auphonic’s contact details for questions about its online service, payments or your Auphonic account.
Contact Hartgen Consultancy
Email Brian at Hartgen Consultancy about Accessible Auphonic
You can also contact us on Mastodon: hartgenconsultancy@leaseysocial.com.
Accessible Auphonic is free. Technical support is provided on a case-by-case basis and is not covered by the regular support commitment for a paid product. Replies may take longer than support for paid products. Please include your application version, your screen reader and a description of what happened, but do not send your API key.