RE: Music accessibility questions

Good afternoon everyone,

Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate it.

From the email responses I read, my understanding is this is not a straightforward process as I had hoped for as music accessibility is still in its early stages.

My goal is to follow the WCAG 2 AA rules and there doesn’t seem to be set rules yet for sheet music other than a descriptive alt tag. (So do I leave it at that?)

The manual is for the Canadian Armed Forces musicians however the Government of Canada follows the accessibility AA rules and the manual will be posted on the public Canada.ca website. All military personnel including musicians must pass a high level of medical exams including eyesight. They are soldiers after all with musical talent.

Is it a balance between making it available to the music branch personnel especially when they travel and for the visually impaired to be able to understand what we posted? (It seems to be a real struggle with the lack of accessibility tools available right now.)

Being a web developer, I can code in JSON but my concern is it’s time consuming and in a very specialized field. JSON is not for the general public or even web publishers so once I’m off this project, who would code any changes or edits etc moving forward? But if this can be done solely with software, it may be a viable solution.

I know the pride our Canadian military has for inclusiveness and diversity so they would love to have the Marches, Calls and Protocols fully accessible for the blind and so would I. My question is, is it even possible today? The project has time and financial restraints of course.

Question:

1.      Are there any crowd sourcing groups or anyone you know that would volunteer to help make the sheet music accessible for the blind? For example, the UK crowd sources its military history archives (they are way more organised and advanced than most countries are).

2.      If yes, do I provide a separate document specifically for the blind? I’m open to all suggestions if it’s doable.

I’ll review all the links and responses again and ask questions as I move forward. Ideally, I would like to find a solution that works well for our Canadian Government, our military Music Branch and the blind or partially sighted persons.

I’m new to music accessibility, so being aware is very important for change especially in my capacity as a web developer.

Any other suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email me. I truly appreciate it.

Sincerely yours,

Suzanne Doyle

Web Developer, Directorate History and Heritage (DHH)
National Defence | Government of Canada
Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca<mailto:Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca> / Tel: 613-290-2102

Développeur web, Histoire et patrimoine (DHP)
Défense nationale │ Gouvernement du Canada
Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca<mailto:Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca> / Tél : 613-290-2102

From: Mosterd, Eric James <Eric.J.Mosterd@usd.edu>
Sent: March 23, 2023 10:22 AM
To: Marc Sabatella <marc@outsideshore.com>
Cc: Noble, Stephen <steve.noble@louisville.edu>; Doyle S@CMP DHH@Ottawa-Hull <SUZANNE.DOYLE@forces.gc.ca>; public-music-notation@w3.org
Subject: Re: Music accessibility questions

I’ll just add that converting sheet music from its native format (e.g., Finale, Sibelius, etc.) to MusicXML does not result in a 100% accurate reproduction.  It’s somewhat akin to translating something using Google Translate, and then translating that result back into the original language.  Also, we’ve still not figured out a good way to make score annotations (e.g., notes from an instructor highlighting a section, technique, piece of theory, etc.) accessible.

A final note:  the next “version” of MusicXML, MNX, is moving away from XML to JSON:

Changing MNX to use JSON | Music Notation Community Group<%3cBLOCKED%3e*https:/www.w3.org/community/music-notation/2023/01/03/changing-mnx-to-use-json/%3cBLOCKED%3e>
w3.org<%3cBLOCKED%3e*https:/www.w3.org/community/music-notation/2023/01/03/changing-mnx-to-use-json/%3cBLOCKED%3e>

[favicon.ico]<%3cBLOCKED%3e*https:/www.w3.org/community/music-notation/2023/01/03/changing-mnx-to-use-json/%3cBLOCKED%3e>



It’s still a bit early in the process, so it is unclear what impact this may have on accessibility but at the very least, existing XML-based conversion tools will need to be updated to support both the new standard and format.

(sent from my phone, so forgive any typos)
________________________________
Eric Mosterd
Assistant Director, Center for Teaching & Learning
Manager, TechFellows Program
Adj. Professor, Music History, Dept. of Music

[X]
________________________________
Regents Fellow for e-Education Initiatives
South Dakota Board of Regents

[X]
________________________________
(605) 677-5411 | Eric.J.Mosterd@usd.edu<x-msg://1/UrlBlockedError.aspx>
(605) 677-6518<tel:(605)%20677-6518> (fax) | http://www.mosterd.org/<%3cBLOCKED%3e*http:/www.mosterd.org/%3cBLOCKED%3e>
________________________________


On Mar 23, 2023, at 08:53, Marc Sabatella <marc@outsideshore.com<mailto:marc@outsideshore.com>> wrote:

You don't often get email from marc@outsideshore.com<mailto:marc@outsideshore.com>. Learn why this is important<%3cBLOCKED%3e*https:/aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification%3cBLOCKED%3e>

I can't speak to anything having to do with military standards, but I can address the subject of accessibility of music notation in general.

Braille music would be one common form of expressing music for blind musicians.  There is an ASCII format for Braille that could be used in alt text, and I've actually been curious to try this.  In principle it would work and a blind user using a Braille display could then read the music that way,  But I could also imagine it not working very well compared to traditionally embossed Braille, since music needs to be read in a somewhat less linear fashion than text and the navigation possibilities for alt text probably aren't that great.  And in case, you'd still need to get the music into Braille in the first place, which is the harder part - usually a very manual process that requires expertise in this.

MusicXML as mentioned is a great format for accessibility because it can then either be converted to Braille via a variety of automatic and semi-automatic tools, or it can be opened in a music notation program like MuseScore or whatever the user in question is comfortable with, and read by screen reader with full navigation and even playback.  But, for that to work, you won't want the MusicXML to actually be the alt text for the image - you'll want it to be a separate file (probably a ZIP of all the MusicXML files for all the examples).

Assuming these examples were created in music notation software, then exporting to MusicXML would be simple enough.  So if it passes muster to include a ZIP of MusicXML files for your examples, that's almost certainly the most *useful* option.  If on the other hand the music was simply scanned from a print rather than generated via music notation software, it's going to be process getting all that music entered.

Marc

On Thu, Mar 23, 2023 at 7:03 AM Noble, Stephen <steve.noble@louisville.edu<mailto:steve.noble@louisville.edu>> wrote:
Some years back, I was involved with the Benetech DIAGRAM Project, and we created the Accessible Image Sample Book: http://diagramcenter.org/standards-and-practices/accessible-image-sample-book.html<%3cBLOCKED%3e*https:/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdiagramcenter.org%2Fstandards-and-practices%2Faccessible-image-sample-book.html&data=05%7C01%7Ceric.j.mosterd%40usd.edu%7Cc15168cc20854e43777e08db2ba5f49a%7C9c36a7d0bf7b49919b78be91a52f0226%7C0%7C0%7C638151764033774294%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=o3hFkh4DFDUn1FdhwgzTVM2Um49nJEsuBRaJ51HN8xE%3D&reserved=0%3cBLOCKED%3e>

We looked at how to include a variety of content in digital format in an accessible manner. We included a section on music, in which we generally recommended MusicXML to support music accessibility. MusicXML  is supported in music-aware braille translation software and can be coupled with braille displays and speech-access systems. MusicXML is also widely supported by music notation software that can create enlarged notation to be viewed on the screen or printed. This allows further manipulation of the music notation, audible playback in real time using synthetic music, or export to standard audio formats.

To go direct to the Music section, the web excerpt is at http://diagramcenter.wpengine.com/samplebook/08-Music.xhtml<%3cBLOCKED%3e*https:/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdiagramcenter.wpengine.com%2Fsamplebook%2F08-Music.xhtml&data=05%7C01%7Ceric.j.mosterd%40usd.edu%7Cc15168cc20854e43777e08db2ba5f49a%7C9c36a7d0bf7b49919b78be91a52f0226%7C0%7C0%7C638151764033930528%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=33K2dc5PJp0x0ZuEPhtmPqsrYUbLOh8xn3SLdK7tjjI%3D&reserved=0%3cBLOCKED%3e>

However, I would suggest you take the time to check out the resources mentioned on the sample book landing page (the first link I shared), where you will find a link to a webinar we did as well as a link to the GitHub repository where all the source files can be found.

--Steve Noble
steve.noble@louisville.edu<mailto:steve.noble@louisville.edu>
502-969-3088

________________________________
From: SUZANNE.DOYLE@forces.gc.ca<mailto:SUZANNE.DOYLE@forces.gc.ca> <SUZANNE.DOYLE@forces.gc.ca<mailto:SUZANNE.DOYLE@forces.gc.ca>>
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2023 6:44 PM
To: public-music-notation@w3.org<mailto:public-music-notation@w3.org> <public-music-notation@w3.org<mailto:public-music-notation@w3.org>>
Subject: Music accessibility questions


Good afternoon,



I am a web developer working with the Music Branch at the Canadian Armed Forces to produce their Music Branch manual online. (I’m not a musician.)



Volume 1 of the manual is almost complete and will be WCAG AA compliant for the web as HTML and I will provide an accessible PDF downloadable document. (I have no issues with regular content.)



The issue is Volume 2 of the manual, it contains mostly images of sheet music with musical notes for Marches, Calls and Protocols content.



Normally, I code an image with a descriptive alt tag or provide a long alternative text version under the image. I don’t think this would work in this case as three quarters of Volume 2 are images which means over a hundred pages of sheet music. The descriptive text for the musical notes would add at least 100 pages more. This wouldn’t make sense online or in a PDF document plus the time and money it would take to write and incorporate all that descriptive text. The problem would be that the military musicians would do without the online manual, and they travel so this is not a solution.



Can you please guide me on how to create sheet music and musical notes that are WCAG 2 compliant for HTML and for a PDF document? What tools and or software are available plus how do I test it? I’ve searched online and really can’t find anything that’s helpful or concrete.



Thank you in advance.



Yours truly,



Suzanne Doyle



Web Developer, Directorate History and Heritage (DHH)

National Defence | Government of Canada

Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca<mailto:Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca> / Tel: 613-290-2102



Développeur web, Histoire et patrimoine (DHP)

Défense nationale │ Gouvernement du Canada

Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca<mailto:Suzanne.Doyle@forces.gc.ca> / Tél : 613-290-2102




--
Marc Sabatella
marc@outsideshore.com<mailto:marc@outsideshore.com>