The DAISY Consortium’s Music Braille Project and RNIB would like to invite teachers of music braille – blind and sighted – to an online Round Table on Teaching Braille Music.
- Description: An international forum for blind and sighted braille music teachers to share experiences, challenges and best practices around teaching braille music, and to plan for the future.
- Date: Online: Friday 7 March 2025
Time: 1100-1300 GMT/UTC
- Hosted by: DAISY Consortium & Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
- Event format: Short presentations followed by discussion, in English. Recorded.
Register by 5 March to receive joining instructions.
If you have something you’d like to share, or issues you’d like to see discussed at the Round Table please include this in the ‘ideas for topics’ field.
Sign up to the DAISY Music Braille Project mailing list if you wish to receive notes from the meeting.
Can’t make it? You can also register and sign up to the DAISY Music Braille Project mailing list to receive notes from the meeting and receive notifications of any future events around music braille. Use the ‘ideas for topics’ field to share any news or comments/questions you would like to be covered at the event.
We look forward to seeing some of you on 7 March for what we know will be a very fruitful discussion.
With best regards,
Sarah Morley Wilkins and Solveig-Marie Oma (DAISY), and Jay Pocknell (RNIB and Sound Without Sight).
Aims
- Identify challenges in teaching braille music and share solutions.
- Review existing courses and digital tools for teaching braille music.
- Identify opportunities for sharing resources internationally, and/or future development of new tools, resources, and interventions.
- Capture sector requirements and recommendations in a report.
Background
The DAISY Music Braille Project has been successfully working to reverse the decline in braille music use and expertise, and now more braille scores can be made available than ever before. Furthermore, advances in notation and conversion tools, file format standards and opportunities for file-sharing, together with the publication of a list of available online teaching and learning resources, make it easier for braille scores to be produced and used.
The next challenge faced by the sector is to increase the number of teachers able to teach music braille, with access to effective resources, especially in smaller countries. Greater international collaboration can foster resource sharing and innovation. This Round Table is intended to start this collaboration.
Discussion Topics
- Approaches, materials, tools and courses for teaching music braille in different settings and in different countries.
- Ways to increase numbers of educators who can teach music braille.
- Keeping it fun – how to make learning music braille engaging, interactive and music-led.
- Gaps in resources needing to be filled.
- Requirements for an international working group and priority areas for action.
With thanks to our friends at Sound Without Sight for handling registrations and hosting the online meeting for us.
About the DAISY Consortium
DAISY is an international non-profit membership organization working with over 150 partners all around the world to improve access to reading for people with print disabilities. We work closely with technology companies, standards agencies and publishers to ensure that the reading and publishing technology of tomorrow provide an accessible future for all. We have a dedicated workstream around access to music braille and accessible music publishing.
About RNIB
RNIB, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, is the UK’s leading sight loss charity. We offer practical and emotional support to blind and partially sighted people, their families and carers. We raise awareness of the experiences of blind and partially sighted people and campaign for change to make our society more accessible for all. We want to change our world so there are no barriers to people with sight loss.
About Sound Without Sight
Sound Without Sight is a community-led initiative, supported by RNIB, aspiring to become the “one front door” for information related to music and accessibility. Its Knowledge Hub and Monthly Meet-ups provide space for blind and partially sighted musicians to share experience and solutions, including information about accessible formats for music notation.