Planted Symphony–Accessible Audio Trails
by Echoes Labs
location: var. UK locations
project type: bespoke mobile app
client: Drake Music
‘It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Echoes to develop Planted Symphony. They have delivered an amazing app that meets all of our design criteria and in particular fully delivers on the bespoke accessibility elements that are central to our mission.
Their commitment and support in achieving this was remarkable and I hope that we will have the chance to work with them again. ’
Tim Yates │ Drake Music
About
Planted Symphony invites you to explore the magic and mystery of nature, through carefully crafted, fully-accessible audio trails. Set in beautiful, green outdoor spaces, the audio trails bring together songs and stores to bring the gardens to life.
It uses GPS triggering of audio, allowing people experience music in nature in a new way.
Planted Symphony tells the tale of Lagether, a herbalist who calls upon the natural world to share its secrets of transformation. Using headphones and your senses, you meet her through spoken word and song lyrics, flowers and foliage. As you move around the music shifts, from wind and whispers to full pomp and glory. Together cello, clarinets, MiMu gloves, voice and marimba create musical alchemy and enchantment.
Planted Symphony was commissioned and developed by Drake Music, in partnership with Arts & Gardens. It is produced and presented by Drake Music. Planted Symphony features exciting new work made by disabled and non-disabled musicians, poets, storytellers and artists working together. The score for the audio trail was sketched by the talented Disabled composer Lucy Hale, who sadly passed away in January 2021. The team would like to dedicate this project to her memory.
Our role
Drake Music commissioned us to create Planted Symphony as a completely accessible mobile application which took advantage of GPS triggering of audio. Creating an app which fulfils access needs for all users is always a challenge, but this project pushed us to cater to a much wider audience than any other project we've worked on.
We integrated support for all standard accessibility on iOS and android devices, including text-to-speech; voice feedback on changes in the interface; UX design for best practices when navigating the interface; assistive touch support; large fonts; colour contrast standard checking; large fonts and dynamic typeface support; as well as support for integrating BSL videos. This array of features pushed us to create a demanding test environment for the app, as well as satisfying the demands of the app being easy to use.
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