How can musicians who are blind make use of computers to notate, read and record music?

Date Updated
05/24/22

There are several computer options that can be used by musicians who are blind to notate, read, and record music. Examples are provided in the following paragraphs; however, mention of a product does not imply endorsement.

Musicians who are blind can use a program called Sibelius Speaking in combination with JAWS screenreader and the Sibelius music program to notate music. Sibelius Speaking is a script that allows JAWS to interface with the Sibelius music notation program.

A musician who is blind can use a Braille music translator program like Goodfeel to transcribe music from Sibelius or other music notation programs into Braille.

To record audio and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) files, a person who is blind can use JAWS screenreader with Caketalking scripts to use the multi-track digital audio workstation Sonar. With these programs a musician who is blind can edit MIDI files, add effects to them, and create the final output to make an audio CD.