ICEB General Assemblies and Mid-Terms

Braille Bonus by Judy Dixon, Owner, BrailleSlates.org

European Capital of Culture. Featuring the Royal School for the Blind, St Vincent's, an Anglican and Roman Catholic Cathedral, Liverpool FC and Everton football clubs, the capital of pop and the Liverpool accent.

Includes a nominations update, the report of the Music Braille Committee, braille music papers, the Constitution and Bylaws Report, the Treasurer's Report and the Promotion and Publicity Report.

https://daisy.org/activities/projects/music-braille/

This project originated from the shared needs of blindness agencies wanting to secure and future-proof their music braille production services in the face of declining expertise, tools which need further development, and a lack of standards for effective file-sharing. The work was initially funded by the Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille (NLB), and the Norwegian Association for the Blind, and since January 2020 is funded by wider sector contributions.

Two international surveys identified the factors involved in supporting blind people with music braille resources for education, employment and leisure, including the production and the teaching and learning of music braille.

Our collaboration will improve the reliability and efficiency of music braille conversion into embossed scores and digital files - by improving existing tools and music braille file format standards, and enhancing opportunities for global file-sharing and professional networking.

The sector agreed that it is currently best to build improvements in existing tools to secure: a robust professional tool(s) for agencies to perform music braille conversion, and an interactive tool(s) for users to create, learn and output music in accessible formats.

We prioritized tool requirements through sector consultation and systematic testing. We now have cycles of phased tool development, testing, and release of improved/new features underway, and resources for professionals are being prepared.

Additionally, we are influencing MusicXML 3.2 and developing guidelines for mainstream music notation engraving to try to improve source files – to get better conversions into music braille.

The project addresses core technical issues, running over 3 years 2020 to end 2022, but related issues including international codes and layouts, and teaching and learning resources also need attention from other organisations.

Dr Sarah Morley Wilkins: Project Manager and User Experience Consultant, UK

Arne Kyrkjebø: Project Lead; Director of Development, Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille (NLB), Oslo

Haipeng Hu: Music Braille Technical Consultant; BrailleOrch, China

I am a lecturer in Persian and Arabic literature at the University of Tehran. I lost my sight when I was 14 years old and have since become an award-winning pianist, conductor, composer and arranger, written two books in Persian on music theory and piano lessons levels one and two and, in 2009, established Afra, the largest music school in Eastern Tehran. My music school currently boasts 500 students and more than 30 teachers, teaching traditional, pop and classical music. All of the profits of Afra go toward providing Braille music supplies for my many blind music students.

In this presentation I will discuss some of the difficulties blind students in countries with low-income economies face in accessing braille technology and supplies, using Iran as a case study, as well as other access issues to braille music.

Over the past fifty years music has been transcribed using a variety of methods. Music transcribers who are fully sighted have transcribed on Perkins Braillers or computer from the printed score. Blind transcribers have worked with an amanuensis to produce a) scores from dictation on the slate and stylus, b) Perkins or computer with braille display output, or c) copied out scores from earlier braille editions and made alterations as necessary.

Braille music translation packages have begun to change the landscape for braille transcription internationally. Suddenly, sighted musicians at universities who know nothing about braille can produce legible braille music with the aid of translation, and blind musicians are able to download scores online to run through a braille music translation package for use in rehearsals. They log into the Vision Australia library catalogue, download the brf file onto their braille notetaker which provides options for using the electronic version, or emboss out a hard copy.

Until fairly recently, Vision Australia only produced braille music manually. That is, a blind transcriber worked with a sighted volunteer who is proficient in print music, and dictated the score. This method is still in place, and the process has been refined over the years with a shorthand terminology that makes the process more efficient. However vision Australia also employs a sighted transcriber who works both manually and electronically. Print music editing software (Sibelius and photoscore) are used to achieve good quality scanned images which convert to print music notation. These are then translated through the Dancing Dots suite of programs to convert to braille music.

This presentation will:

Braille music in a digital age presents many challenges and opportunities in a changing environment. In the past, braille music has enabled employment, learning and leisure opportunities. In the present age, new ways of working, studying and leisure pursuits are being created along with emerging technologies, which will surely build on more traditional approaches and offer a more diverse range of solutions.

Roger Firman: Chair of the UK Association for Accessible Formats; Vice-Chair of the UKAAF Music Subject Area; Lead on the UKAAF MSA Braille Music Task Group; UK consultant on former BANA Braille Music Technical Committee; UK Representative on ICEB Braille Music Committee; UK Lead on DAISY Braille Music Project; Chief Executive, Golden Chord

Clare Gailans: Member of UKAAF; Chair of the UKAAF MSA; Former proof-reader and transcriber of braille music for almost 30 years; since 2004, braille music tutor both to individuals and as part of the provision for visually impaired students at the Royal College of Music and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

We would like to express thanks to the ICEB 2020 Review Committee for selecting our submission to present at the 7th General Assembly, and publish this paper in its proceedings arising from the Assembly.

Where mention is made of specific companies/organisations/software, this should not be regarded as an endorsement, rather as information which may be of benefit.

UK City of Culture 2021. Featuring Lady Godiva, rising from the ashes, peace and reconciliation and Exhall Grange School.

Featuring red buses, Big Ben, the London Underground, the fashionable Bloomsbury District, RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust.

Includes welcomes, Keynote Speech, Introduction of Delegates and Observers, procedural matters, First Report of the Nominations Committee, President's Report, In Memoriam and Country Reports.