[musictlk] creating braille music scores

Bill billlist1 at verizon.net
Wed Dec 10 18:55:05 UTC 2014 

Katie wrote:

> Availability with NVDA would really be something.  Think about it: if at
some point Goodfeel were available to windows users with NVDA scripts, and
Mac users with voiceover, no one would need to pay for a screen reader if
they don't use Jaws.  Everyone would be covered. 

Believe me, Kaiti, we really have been thinking about it.  It would be a
win-win for all if our access method to the Lime music notation editor
worked with all major screen readers and on both the Windows and Mac
platforms.  Increasing direct support for other screen readers is a priority
for us for the coming new year.

In the meantime, I want to stress a couple of important points to bear in
mind:

1. Anybody can use our Lime Aloud scripts that give you detailed access to
the Lime notation editor with the free, 40-minute demo version of JAWS
available as a free download from Freedom Scientific's website.  As you may
know, you have the use of the full version of JAWS for up to 40 minutes at
which time you must reboot your computer in order to get 40 more minutes of
use.  Sure, it's a nuisance to have to reboot every 40 minutes, but the
price is right.  And there is no problem with installing JAWS on a machine
which already has another screen reader installed.  You can use your
favorite screen reader for everything else and just load JAWS when you want
to use Lime with the Lime Aloud scripts from Dancing Dots.  You will find a
brief audio presentation  demonstrating our access solution to the Lime
notation editor by going to www.DancingDots.com and then following the
"Presentations" link, then select the Lime Aloud demo from the list. 

2. The Lime Aloud scripts allow you to hear a detailed verbal description of
each note in a score.  At the minimum, it tells you the pitch, octave, and
duration of the current note.  The scripts also handle the presentation of
the current measure of music as braille music on your braille display.
However, it is possible to use Lime without the scripts but access is fairly
basic and not what I would consider at an acceptable level to allow me to
read and write scores.

3. We package our accessible music software as a collection of a few
software titles: SharpEye Music Reader, Lime, Lime Aloud scripts for JAWS
users, and, of course, the GoodFeelR Braille Music Translator.  We ship no
special scripts to work with SharpEye or GoodFeel so you lose nothing by
using those programs with your favorite screen reader.

4.  As a blind musician myself and the founder of a company that has done
nothing for the past 22 years but develop and adapt technology for blind
musicians, I have to say that it is a bit painful to hear anyone make
statements intimating that we only care about blind musicians who use a
certain screen reader.  Our mission is to support all blind and low vision
musicians and those who educate and collaborate with them.  That being said,
if you have never written even a simple computer program, you may not
realize that designing, coding, testing and fixing software code takes
months and even years of effort.  Our Lime Aloud scripts, for example, have
taken a very long time to work as well as they do now with JAWS (and we are
still not satisfied that they work as well as they should).  

It's wonderful that other screen readers now offer a scripting facility.  I
do wish I could pick up a magic wand and wave it over a copy of the
programming statements for the Lime Aloud scripts for JAWS and, after the
appropriate poofing sounds have died down and the smoke has cleared, walk
away with a perfectly comparable set of scripts for Window-Eyes or any other
screen reader.  However, the reality is that in order to have that
comparable functionality, we must essentially rewrite our scripts for the
non-JAWS screen reader.  That is a daunting task for a small but mighty
company like ours.

But ending up where I started, we do have some workable ideas to get us much
closer to replicating the current functionality with other screen readers.
Of course, when we have something concrete to share, we will be on the
rooftops shouting about it.  And, if you have read this far in my
not-so-brief reply, thank you for letting me vent a bit.  (smile)

Regards,
Bill McCann
President
Dancing Dots


-----Original Message-----
From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf OfKaiti
Shelton via musictlk
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 9:25 AM
To: Linda Mentink; Music Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [musictlk] creating braille music scores

Availability with NVDA would really be something.  Think about it: if at
some point Goodfeel were available to windows users with NVDA scripts, and
Mac users with voiceover, no one would need to pay for a screenreader if
they don't use Jaws.  Everyone would be covered.

Also, I have about had enough computer problems in the last few years with
windows to last me a life time, mainly because I'm not tech-savvy enough to
fix problems before they escalate.  I know the mac has its own viruses and
issues, but it's closer to my vision of a computer that I can just use to do
my work, send email and surf the interwebs, and write music without catching
something.  Also, there's garage band.

On 12/9/14, Linda Mentink via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I doubt it. They won't even make it so that WindowEyes users can use 
> it, thus cutting down on its availability to the blind music 
> community. Not a good selling point, in my humble opinion.
>
> At 11:09 AM 12/9/2014, you wrote:
>>Is dancing dots braille scores ever going to be made available for mac 
>>computers?
>>
>>Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> > On Dec 8, 2014, at 2:53 PM, Bill via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > And, in fact, we do have users who do not even read braille who use 
>> > our technology to read scores using nothing but verbal and musical
cues.
>> > They
>> > can also notate scores in print using the same.
>> >
>> > Bill
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
>> > Bill via musictlk
>> > Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 5:41 PM
>> > To: 'Kaiti Shelton'; 'Music Talk Mailing List'; 'Chris Nusbaum'
>> > Subject: Re: [musictlk] creating braille music scores
>> >
>> > In addition, check out the heading that says:
>> > Other Resources: Grants, Scholarships, and Financing Programs On 
>> > Dancing Dots' Resources page at:
>> > www.dancingdots.com/main/resources.htm
>> >
>> > If you receive support from your state's vocational rehabilitation 
>> > agency, and you read literary braille and you are majoring or even 
>> > minoring in music, I would be surprised to hear that your rehab 
>> > counselor would not approve the acquisition of accessible music 
>> > technology.
>> >
>> > Feel free to contact me off-list using my info at DancingDots.com 
>> > address to discuss particulars of your own situation.
>> >
>> > Bill
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: musictlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
>> > Kaiti Shelton via musictlk
>> > Sent: Monday, December 08, 2014 5:21 PM
>> > To: Chris Nusbaum; Music Talk Mailing List
>> > Subject: Re: [musictlk] creating braille music scores
>> >
>> > Also, if you google "Ohio Lions Clubs" or the region if you know 
>> > what that is for your area, the governor's contact information 
>> > should be public knowledge.
>> >
>> >> On 12/8/14, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> Who said you have to ask that particular Lions Club?  Lions Clubs 
>> >> are organized into regions, and each region has a governor.  It 
>> >> might be worth emailing the governor rather than the individual 
>> >> chapter president so he can spread the letter you would write to 
>> >> other groups in the region.  This is what hsas worked for me in 
>> >> the past, and I've gotten donations from clubs who were further 
>> >> away from the chapter nearest my house.
>> >>
>> >> Where there is a will, there is a way...
>> >>
>> >>> On 12/8/14, Chris Nusbaum via musictlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> >>> What state do you live in? I may be able to help if I know this 
>> >>> information.
>> >>>
>> >>> Chris Nusbaum, Vice President
>> >>> Maryland Association of Blind Students Coordinator of Social 
>> >>> Media, National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
>> >>> Twitter: @Chrisn98, @MDMDABS and @NFBMD
>> >>>
>> >>> "Together, with love, hope and determination, we transform dreams 
>> >>> into reality."
>> >>>
>> >>>> On Dec 8, 2014, at 10:20 AM, Kelsey Nicolay via musictlk 
>> >>>> <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Hi Kaiti,
>> >>>> We only have one lions club and it's falling apart.  They can't 
>> >>>> get new members and I've tried approaching them with things like 
>> >>>> this before, but they can't do it right now.  I don't live in a 
>> >>>> big city, so it's going to be difficult for me to get the funding.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Kaiti
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Kaiti
>> >
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>>-----
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>>12/08/14
>
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--
Kaiti

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