Maxess

Documentation pages for Max/MSP externals showing maxess.element, maxess.file, maxess.keyboard, and maxess.speech modules with patch diagrams and technical specifications.

Maxes is a collection of Max/MSP externals for macOS and Windows, designed to simplify the integration of accessibility features into your M4L devices.

  • maxess.element enables communication with screen readers. It has been tested with VoiceOver, NVDA, and Narrator.
  • maxess.keyboard captures keyboard input, even when the containing window or application is out of focus.
  • maxess.speech interfaces directly with the operating system's native speech synthesis engine.
  • maxess.file facilitates interaction with the file browsing system, addressing the limitations of "opendialog," which currently does not work with screen readers on macOS.

A note regarding Push 3 Standalone:

Currently, like any other externals, Maxess objects may potentially break Push 3 Standalone compatibility. To work around this, check for the appropriate OS (macOS or Windows) on load and instantiate the objects only if the condition is met. The download includes a help file demonstrating this.

Max/MSP patch diagram showing the initialization flow for maxess externals, including loadbang for setup, gestalt plat for OS detection, sel mac windows for platform selection, and tosymbol/thispatcher objects for external instantiation.

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Licensed under CC BY 4.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

(c) Iftah Gabbai, 2025