Re: [orca-list] Initial commit of sound support done -- NOT hooked up quite yet

[Nolan Darilek <nolan thewordnerd info>]

Just a quick thought on progress tone beeps, I won't bikeshed this but 
wanted to throw it out there:

I've used NVDA for a while and like the feature, but don't like its 
implementation much. It seems to use a linear progression of beeps 
through a pretty wide tonal range. As such, I sometimes find it hard to 
estimate how far a progress bar is along because I forget what the low 
and high tones sound like. Also, tonal progression at least in terms of 
music is logarithmic, and I think the curve of tones sounds better when 
done non-linearly. I think NVDA's approach is linear, so it sounds less 
like a progression and more like a series of disjointed beeps. Just as 
we perceive volume logarithmically, so do we perceive tone.

I can't find a good audio example, unfortunately. But it should be 
fairly easy for someone with a bit of audio experience to demo a sine 
wave sweeping an octave in a linear and logarithmic pattern, and the 
latter sounds like a progression while the former just sounds like a sweep.

I'd also suggest well-established, easy-to-remember bounds. Maybe 0% at 
middle C and 100% an octave higher, with a logarithmic progression 
through the octave. I think this would make it significantly easier to 
audibly track the progress bar.

I know the above are small details, but I think they'd make a huge 
difference perceptually. Every time I hear an NVDA progress bar beep I 
only have a vague idea how far the bar is along. And by "vague" I don't 
mean "is it 51% or 52?" but "is it halfway done or only a third?"


On 02/16/2016 01:28 PM, Joanmarie Diggs wrote:
> Hey all.
>
> As the subject states, we're are very close to having progress bar
> beeps. We're also very close to having full, customizable sound icon
> support. But I deliberately didn't hook either up. So you'll see the
> commit and hear no change. That's on purpose. As I stated in the commit
> message:
>
> Note: I attempted to create the progress bar beep Tone based on Chrys'
> patch, but it doesn't sound right. Once he fixes that, progress bar
> beeps will be hooked up.
>
> Once I finish testing the sound icon support, it will be hooked up as
> an "experimental" feature to be refined and GUI-ified during the 3.21/22
> cycle.
>
> Stay tuned!
> --joanie
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