[NABS-L] A Reddit Thread Worth Reading: College Professors Talk About Issues Around Accessible Materials in Music Courses, Especially Theory Courses

[Ella Yu]

Hi everyone,
I know this is pretty specific to music students in university/college, but
since this list is for blind/visually impaired students, I feel it is still
worth sharing.

I just wanted to share a thread I found on reddit, as I feel the subject is
very important to the blind music community at large. Specifically, it is
about accessibility issues for blind/visually impaired students in
university music classes, especially music theory courses. I know not many
of you guys hang out on reddit on a regular basis, but since everything can
be viewed without a reddit account and the discussion is interesting, I
just thought I'd share it. The post is in a subreddit called r/professors,
which is a reddit community intended for those who teach in higher
education, such as college and university professors. There are reddit
communities for nearly every topic out there, called subreddits.

This reddit thread is actually a spinoff from a different reddit thread
called "Title II Update of ADA REQUIREMENTS"
<https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/1g71b68/title_ii_update_of_ada_requirements/>
(ADA
likely meaning Americans with Disabilities Act). The main post reads:
"Today during a faculty meeting, I learned that the DOJ updated Title II
requirements of the ADA making it mandatory that web and digital content be
fully accessible by April, 2026. I then was given a list of content that
must be made accessible including all Power Points (pictures need Alt-Text,
font requirements for screen readers and order considerations for screen
readers), emails (“Every time someone sends an inaccessible email we are
unintentionally discriminating against people with disabilities”), word
documents and video/multimedia. What are all of you doing about this? Any
tips/tricks or insights you can share? This feels so daunting to me and my
team b/c we teach A&P with an image heavy lab."

One of the comments on the thread, which got 37 upvotes, says:
"It’s an issue if you are a music professor. Music notation is not
accessible so any handouts or assignments I post on canvas come back with a
low accessibility warning. We currently have a student who is blind and
have had other students in the past. You can’t post Braille music notation
on canvas. Screen readers can’t read it. We’ve always made it work with
students, by playing examples on the piano and having them talk through
their analyses."

Another thread, which is the one that is of most interest to this
community, was started (likely) as a response to this comment. It is
called "ADA
compliance for LMS for music professors"
<https://new.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/1g7f2gx/ada_compliance_for_lms_for_music_professors/>
(LMS
likely meaning learning management system e.g Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard,
etc). The main post reads:
"This is in response to the recent post about complete ADA accessibility
for all teaching materials. If your university is mandating this, do you
know how music theorists have complied with the law?
In the last week, I have taught from these two scores. Obviously, they
cannot be captioned. Listening to the music is of course incredibly
important, but students have to see the score for analysis and performance.
We have had blind and visually impaired students and we have worked with
them individually and/or sent music out to be Brailled if they even read
Braille music notation. Many cannot read it and it is time consuming and
very expensive to send music out to be Brailled.
I think accessibility is incredibly important. I just have no idea how it
would work in my field."
There appears to be a musical score attached to this post, which is shown
as an image.

The comments on this reddit post discuss the issue in depth, and I think it
is a worthwhile read, especially for those who advocate for accessibility
in university music courses for blind students, either as a student
yourself, a teacher, or a related individual. The commenters all appear to
be sighted college/university professors who share their perspectives, so
it gives a pretty good glimpse into what is going on in the trenches so to
speak. I think examining those perspectives is important for the
blind/visually impaired music community at large because there tends to be
a bit of a disconnect between what students need/feel is best for them and
the teachers and other professionals working with them, and I think there
is quite a bit that can be done to better bridge this gap.
What do you guys all think? Feel free to share your thoughts on the reddit
thread.