Ars Participandi

The art of taking part.

Every Walraven Labs app is built to do two things. It does what it is made for — and it makes sure everyone can take part fully, including people who see, hear, read, remember or move less easily, or who feel nervous.

01The coreRemembering, rehearsing, learning, practising — what the app is for.
02Taking partHelp that lets everyone keep participating fully, in their own way.

One card. One symbol. In every app.

Ars Participandi is not a separate app, and not an accessibility mode lost somewhere in the settings. It is one recognisable card — Help with taking part — with one symbol: a person carried by an open hand. It sits in the same place and works the same way in every app that has it — today Ars Memorandi, Ars Scænica and Ars Memoria, and every new app after them.

Five pillars

Each app fills them in for its own purpose.

01
Reading
Text size, line spacing, stronger contrast in dark and light, reading speed, search, bookmarks and your own notes.
02
Hearing and following
Read aloud with your own recording or a reading voice, follow the whole (who is on now, who comes next), a gentle vibration just before your turn, a whisper in your earpiece.
03
Controls
Large buttons instead of swiping, one-button control (tap for next, hold for previous) — also with a page turner, foot pedal or switch — and labels for screen readers.
04
Memory and calm
Extra memory support (the start of a line stays visible), a calm screen without motion or transitions, and a black screen.
05
Beyond the screen
Large print on paper, a prompt card with first letters and a running-order overview — and optionally an aid such as camera-free smart glasses, always as support only.

How we design it

One card, one symbol, one name — in every app and every language.
Everything is off by default. You switch on only what helps, and “Reset all” turns everything off again.
Help never changes the content: the text, the ritual or the script stays exactly the same. Your notes stay private and are never shared.
It works without an account, without a server and at no extra cost — on your own device.
Always close at hand: a line on the start screen, an “Aa” button next to the text, and the controls while you use the app.
It is about taking part, not about limitations: we describe what helps, not what someone cannot do.
Where a community has its own rules — a lodge, a theatre company, a school — we point to them: agree together which help suits your role.
Hardware such as glasses or a pedal is always optional and only supports; every app works fully without it.

In our apps