Introduction

Zoom Corporation - not the communications company renowned for its online meeting platform - has always been associated with top notch recorders.  Journalists and podcast creators alike have rated the quality, performance and portability of Zoom devices on the market.  But this has meant that blind content creators wishing to use them have had to rely on cheat sheets and their memory to navigate these products, limiting their use.  However, all that changed in 2024 when Zoom Corporation brought out its first accessible range of recorders known as the Zoom Essential series.  Since that time, the company has gone to even greater lengths to ensure that some products do carry voice guidance that enables someone with little or no sight to enjoy a rich list of features.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Zoom’s Samuel Green, Director of Product/Customer Support, who told me how the idea for incorporating accessibility features into their devices came about.  He told me that there had been some lobbying to incorporate some accessibility into their products, and he knew that once that happened, it would be easier to continue with that theme going forward.  Samuel explained that one of his relatives had lost his sight, and found recording equipment incredibly inaccessible.  With this in mind, it spurred on Zoom to work on incorporating accessible features to some of their products.

Talking recorders

So the Zoom Essential H1, H4 and H6 recorders were the first to contain voice guidance, not a full TTS engine, but tagged prompts that would allow a blind person to navigate the recorder and access the necessary menu structure.  This was then followed by the H2Essential

Zoom H1Essential

• 32-BIT FLOAT RECORDING - Perfect audio without manual gain adjustment
• X/Y MICROPHONES - Clear stereo recordings up to 120 dB SPL
• USB MICROPHONE FUNCTION - Compatible with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for blind and visually impaired users
• VERSATILE USAGE - Ideal for music, podcasts, film, and interviews

Zoom H2Essential

• MORE RECORDING OPTIONS - Three microphones offer nine recording modes for maximum flexibility
• HIGH-QUALITY AUDIO - 32-bit float recordings up to 96 kHz ensure clipping-free results
• EASY OPERATION - No gain setting required thanks to automatic level adjustment
• VERSATILE USAGE - Ideal for music, podcasts, livestreams, and video production
• SMARTPHONE COMPATIBLE - USB connection for professional mobile audio recording
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for blind and visually impaired users

Zoom H4Essential

• 32-BIT FLOAT RECORDING - No level setting needed for distortion-free audio
• ADVANCED X/Y MICROPHONES - Capture up to 130 dB SPL for dynamic recordings
• TWO XLR/TRS INPUTS - Ultra-clean preamps with phantom power support
• USB INTERFACE - Simultaneous recording to SD card and via USB
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for visually impaired users

Zoom H6Essential

• 32-BIT FLOAT RECORDING - Enables lossless audio capture without clipping or level adjustment
• SIX SIMULTANEOUS TRACKS - Record up to 6 audio tracks at once for maximum flexibility
• INTERCHANGEABLE MIC MODULE - Includes X/Y mic capsule for high-quality stereo recording
• USB-C AUDIO INTERFACE - Can be used as an audio interface for PC, Mac, or mobile devices
• VERSATILE USAGE - Ideal for podcasts, music, interviews, film sound, and more
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for visually impaired users

Zoom Studio Recorders

Following on from the success of the Essential H1, H4 and H6 series, Zoom added the same accessibility features to the H2 Essential, and H5 and H6 Studio recorders.  See here:

Zoom Incorporated

Zoom Studio H5

• PROFESSIONAL AUDIO QUALITY - Studio-grade recording at 24-bit/96kHz
• MODULAR CAPSULE SYSTEM - Flexible mic configuration for various uses
• VERSATILE USAGE - Perfect for podcasting, music and field recording
• INTUITIVE INTERFACE - Easy operation with extended battery life
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for visually impaired users
• INCLUDED ACCESSORIES - Comes with mic, cables and software

Zoom Studio H6

• HIGH AUDIO QUALITY - 32-bit float technology with 132 dB dynamic range
• VERSATILE USAGE - Suitable for music, podcasts, film and streaming
• ADVANCED MICROPHONES - XY capsules with 140 dB SPL and linear response
• FLEXIBLE CONNECTIVITY - 4 XLR/TRS inputs, stereo mini jack, USB interface
• INNOVATIVE FEATURES - Look-ahead limiters, RF shielding, real-time display
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for visually impaired users

For a list of handy recorders and information on which one might be right for you, visit

Zoom Incorporated

For an in-depth review of the Essential H1, H4 and H6 series, I highly recommend listening to podcasts produced by blindness advocate, Jonathan Mosen, who puts each recorder through its paces:

Blind Podmaker Podcast

These recorders have been well received in the blindness community, not just because of their quality, but because they talk right out of the box.  This means that if you don’t want or need voice guidance on one of these recorders, you have to physically turn it off.  So not only can you move around the menus of them with the built-in voice prompts, you can get your recorder up and running straight out of the packaging, something I know many of us have appreciated when purchasing one of this family.  It is a rare thing indeed when you can buy a mainstream product and start using it without having to wait for sighted assistance to tell you what each function does!

Podtrack P4Next

But, for me, the jewel in the ever expanding crown is the Podtrack P4Next.  The addition of voice guidance to Zoom’s latest recorder has been a real game-changer.  For the first time, I have started to use the Podtrack P4Next as a small mixer to record myself and an external device such as my iPhone or PC screen reader to create demos.  The Podtrack P4Next, like all other Zoom products, is well laid out with tactile buttons and knobs.  So using this unit to create demonstrations of apps on my phone or computer is now so much easier thanks to the voice guidance in menus, a blind content creator’s dream.  Again, Jonathan Mosen has created an exceptionally useful review of the PodTrack P4Next which you can obtain here:

Blind Podmaker Podcast

It offers:

• Four XLR microphone inputs and multitrack recording that allow simultaneous recording of up to four hosts or sound sources
• AI noise reduction, tone control, and EQ for optimal sound
• The P4Next's four XLR inputs offer up to +70 dB of gain, allowing you to use even the most demanding podcast microphones
• The P4Next has four headphone outputs with individual volume controls for everyone at the table
• Connect the P4Next to your phone and record professional audio quality directly to your phone's video, (no editing required)
• ACCESSIBILITY - Audio guidance for blind and visually impaired users

Please note that you will need to use your own microphone on the Podtrack P4Next as this recorder does not include one onboard.  There is also no built-in speaker, so just plug in a pair of headphones.

Conclusion

Now that accessibility has been built into some of Zoom’s products, content creators in the blindness community can really use these products to their full capacity.  And Zoom is also listening to feedback and willing to make improvements to these already fantastic recorders.

In addition to being able to turn on voice guidance out of the box, Zoom has produced descriptions of device layout on all its accessible recorders in Microsoft Word format, something that I think is also really useful if you want to remind yourself of what a button or control does on your device.

One point to note about all the recorders listed here is that it is still not possible to have a list of file names spoken because voice guidance is a collection of prompts rather than a fully-fledged text-to-speech engine.  However, the easiest way round this is to connect your device to a PC and remove the files from the micro SD card and rename them.  If you do that each time you make a recording on your unit, you will be less likely to get confused by all the file names on your device which are named in date order.

Zoom is to be commended in my view for making some of their high-end recorders accessible, and for listening to feedback and suggestions.  Samuel Green is extremely pleasant to talk to, and welcomes comments and ideas for product enhancements or bug fixes.

These recorders and accessories such as windshields and cases are available from all good audio outlets or from Zoom Corporation