Click... (the soft sound of the Enter key being pressed)
"GoldWave. Untitled. Edit area," the screen reader whispers into Fakhry's ear.Â
Like an old friend, the voice welcomes him to the main screen of his favorite audio editing software. This software has faithfully accompanied him through the countless editing sessions he has undertaken. The sounds and rhythms he hears are like pieces of a puzzle---each needing to be carefully arranged into a seamless whole. With his fingers dancing across the keyboard like a pianist over ivory keys, Fakhry eagerly begins his editing.
"If the sound is balanced, it means it is just as I envisioned," Fakhry murmurs, smiling.
Fakhry Muhammad Rosa is a thirty-year-old man who was born with severe low vision, yet his spirit has never faltered in the face of this challenge. He has proven his resilience and passion for life, discovering a love for music as early as his elementary school days. "I started learning music in the fourth grade," Fakhry reminisces, a gentle smile touching his lips. His musical prowess is not to be underestimated. He often performs alongside his bandmates at events held by Yayasan Mitra Netra, official government gatherings, and even wedding celebrations.
His love for music draws him irresistibly into audio recording and editing. Four years after first falling under the spell of music, in his early junior high years, he began exploring this new realm in earnest. The first audio editing software he used was GoldWave. Initially, Fakhry used the software to compress MP3 files so that they would take up less space. "Back then, memory cards had such limited capacity that my friends would often ask me to compress their MP3s so they could fit more files," he recalls, with a laugh.
But from that simple beginning, Fakhry's curiosity blossomed, compelling him to uncover the deeper potential of GoldWave and other audio software. "At first, I learned from my friend, who is also visually impaired, and then I started experimenting on my own. I also joined online forums to figure out how everything worked," he says. Since those early days in junior high, he has been a self-taught student of audio editing, shaping, and refining his skills with unwavering dedication---a journey that continues to this day.
Learning to edit audio with limited visual ability presents a unique challenge for Fakhry. He chooses GoldWave, software endowed with a dedicated add-on for screen readers. Through this auditory guide, each menu and button on his laptop is translated into sound, allowing him to navigate the interface by ear alone. Though he cannot see the waveform, he has trained himself to rely entirely on hearing as his guiding instrument. "Sighted people can trace the rise and fall of sound waves. I find my way with nothing but my ears," he explains.
Though GoldWave is relatively accessible for the visually impaired, not all audio software offers such ease of use. "Software like Cubase is still out of reach, as no add-on exists for it yet," Fakhry explains. When a program proves inaccessible, he must seek out other alternatives. If none can be found, he relies on the global community to develop the necessary add-ons. "Here in Indonesia, no one has made an add-on yet, so I often find myself searching for other software options," he adds.
For twenty-two years, Fakhry has dedicated himself to the art of audio editing, a craft in which he glimpses immense potential for the visually impaired. "In fact," he muses, "audio editing could be a rather promising career path." Fakhry believes that vocations like podcasting, podcast editing, and the delicate craft of mixing and mastering audio are particularly suited to those who are visually impaired, as they rely on the keen precision of hearing over visual perception.
