AccessCaster

I love my RODECaster Pro II. It is packed with features and it sounds great, which makes it all the more annoying that it is controlled through an inaccessible touchscreen and software that is mostly inaccessible too.

AccessCaster was written to replace Rode's own software, and it makes most of the mixer's features available to screen reader users. I spent months with Claude capturing the traffic between the PC and the desk, and reverse engineering what each feature and function does.

AccessCaster covers:

• Channel processing
• Fader assignments
• Output mixes and routing
• The SMART pads
• On-device recording
• And more

Press a button or move a fader on the desk and it is announced through system text to speech. It supports the RODECaster Duo as well.

AccessCaster is not endorsed by, associated with, or supported by RODE. It is an independent project, and RODE have had no hand in it. I have taken every precaution I can to make sure the code is safe and that nothing it does to the desk cannot be undone, but it talks directly to your hardware, so you use it at your own risk.

Requirements

What you need for AccessCaster to run at all.

• Windows.
• A RODECaster Pro II or a RODECaster Duo, connected to your PC by USB.

Tested on

What it has actually been run on, which is a different question from what it needs.

• NVDA screen reader.
• Windows 11.
• RODECaster Pro II and RODECaster Duo.

Audio guide

Two minutes on what the app is for. A fuller guide, in parts, is coming.

User guide

The same guide that is inside the app, on its Help and About page.

• All topics, the contents page
• About AccessCaster, what it is and who wrote it
• What AccessCaster can control, everything working today
• Finding your way around, how the app is laid out
• Where everything is on a RODECaster Pro 2, the desk described by feel
• Where everything is on a RODECaster Duo, the same for the smaller desk
• Channels and Processing, one channel and everything on it
• Routing, faders, mixes, and what each output hears
• SMART pads, sounds, voice effects and mixer actions
• Recording, the unit's own recorder
• Backups, saving and putting back the whole desk
• Device, connection, firmware and network
• Help and About, the app's own help page
• The app itself, the tray icon and this window
• If the unit stops responding, getting a dropped connection back
• Known issues, faults in the desk worth recognising

Download

Download AccessCaster 2.52

AccessCasterSetup-v2.52.exe, 9.7 MB.

Worth reading first: Known issues, three faults in the RODECaster itself that you can recognise and work around.

Source code

AccessCaster is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3.

AccessCaster on GitHub, where the source, the releases and the issue tracker are.