THE FUTURE OF BRAILLE MUSIC UNDER THREAT IN THE UK

Sound Without Sight - Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 7:15 AM

The future of braille music under threat in the UK: have your say

Introduction

It’s no secret that RNIB has spent the last nine months deliberating how to restructure its teams and services in an effort to close a reported £10m shortfall in funding. What none of us who are blind or who read braille ever expected is that RNIB would reach the decision to cease personal transcription of materials into accessible formats with immediate effect. Yet, with no consultation of customers and still no formal public announcement to customers, 150 years of providing information to blind and partially sighted people in braille and large print has come to an unceremonious and abrupt end.

This article focuses primarily on the impact RNIB’s decision will have on blind musicians, but the same changes also affect partially sighted musicians who rely on modified stave notation (large print) music.

We’ll evaluate the provision which RNIB has put in place and let you know how you can have your say and share your thoughts. 

We hope to present RNIB with the results of the consultation it omitted to run, along with some considered proposals to ensure the future of braille music and modified stave notation transcription. Fundamentally, we believe this should be safeguarded as a valuable service and not cast as a commercial product.

About us

Firstly, who are we? This article has been written by James Risdon in consultation with Sound Without Sight. James is a professional recorder player, braille music user, and member of the steering group of Sound Without Sight. From 2008 to 2017, James was the Music Officer at RNIB where, among many other projects, he took a lead on braille music policy, developments, and support.

Sound Without Sight has quickly established itself as the UK’s leading online resource for blind and partially sighted musicians, hosting a vibrant programme of talks and presentations, and making deep and impactful links between visually impaired musicians and areas of the music business from technology to publishing, music notation to recording and sequencing. Several blind musicians have also contributed valuable ideas and shared vital perspectives which have all filtered into this blog. We therefore write on behalf of blind musicians in the UK and beyond.

Before we start

Before we focus on the effect this decision will have on blind and partially sighted musicians, it is worth pausing to consider the impact on staff members involved in transcription and music. Transcribing music into braille and modified print requires deep knowledge as well as understanding of how blind and partially sighted people will read and interpret the final result. It takes years to develop this expertise and understanding. Colleagues working in this specialist area often devote the greater part of their career to this vocation. Some have been made redundant with immediate effect, while those who are left to fulfil commercial contracts are left working for an organisation which appears to place little value other than financial on their work. To these staff, we offer our admiration for their skill and gratitude for their dedication.

RNIB’s reputation for braille music

Let’s be clear: RNIB’s braille music transcription service has been revered around the world and its reputation in the field assured among some of the finest blind musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries. None of us in the UK who use braille music for leisure, education and employment would be where we are today without RNIB’s personal transcription service. Apart from one commercial agency which operated for around 20 years, and a handful of private transcribers who have worked on a limited freelance basis, RNIB has been the only source of braille music transcription in the UK.

RNIB’s reputation for modified stave notation

Modified stave notation (MSN) is a standard for representing regular notation which is optimised for musicians with partial sight. MSN provides for a customised layout of all elements on the score to make it easier to read for people with different levels of sight. The concept and standards were developed by RNIB in the 1990s and it remains a hugely valuable format to partially sighted musicians. 

Since then, RNIB had provided a tailored personal transcription service for partially sighted musicians, meeting a need based on unique expertise and experience. There is no commercial provider of modified stave notation transcription in the UK.

Alternative provision

In an effort to mitigate the impact of its decision to cease personal transcription, RNIB has announced A2i Transcription Services as its recommended provider for braille and large print materials. In addition, RNIB has reportedly committed to subsidise personal transcription through A2i Transcription Services for the coming year.

A2i Transcription Services and braille music

In an email from 11 April 2025, A2i told us that their initial plan to meet demand for braille music revolves around production of MusicXML files in-house. These will either be outsourced to be converted into braille or A2i will use automated braille music conversion software. The software is free for anyone to download and use; indeed, Sound Without Sight has already published a podcast on how to use it.

Crucially, however, A2i currently has no in-house braille music expertise. This means they are unable to correctly customise the software for each transcription or to check and repair results where the automated conversion process has failed. 

While A2i has expressed a laudable and encouraging desire to train staff and develop a braille music service, this can only be a long-term aspiration. 

So, A2i may be able to produce very straight forward pieces of braille music in the weeks and months to come. It is possible they could eventually turn requests around very quickly, but importantly, the results may not be perfect. Even more importantly, neither A2i, nor we as the customer will know to what extent the translation is correct and where any mistakes might be. 

To be clear, RNIB’s decision means that in a year’s time, blind musicians will be charged commercial prices for braille music that may be ok, may be better than nothing, or may be entirely useless. 

In a phone conversation on 10 April 2025, A2i told us they have previously commissioned Blue Ocean Waves to produce braille music to fulfil commissions. Blue Ocean Waves also rely on free automated software to produce braille music and have no in-house expertise to check the results. For this service, they also charge commercial rates of £10 per page, though information is patchy. 

A2i Transcription Services and modified stave notation

A2i tell us that they do now have in-house capability to produce MSN after one of RNIB’s large print transcribers took up a post with them in April 2025. While this is encouraging, it raises questions over capacity because as things stand, any transcription work for MSN or braille music will rely on one person.

Cost in future

A2i Transcription Services is first and foremost a for-profit commercial business. An initial quote received on 11 April 2025 for converting a PDF of an 8-minute long piece of wind music into braille revealed a cost of around £270. This was split into production of MusicXML (over £200) plus conversion into braille music and embossing of just over £60. We are seeking clarification whether A2i will also provide BRF files so that musicians can have the option to edit and annotate their files according to need.

A teacher needing to access a new book of flute music, or a violinist wishing to learn parts for a school orchestra or an amateur singer requiring music for a Christmas concert may well be looking at several hundred pounds each. 

Faced with such high costs, many of us relying on accessible music scores will be severely compromised in our efforts to take on new work. Young blind people growing up in the UK today may find there are even more challenges in their way; worse still, they may reasonably ask where they can obtain braille music or MSN for their piano lessons or choir, and conclude that it would be easier not to bother. This is not only a significant break in the 150-year long bond between RNIB and blind musicians, but for musicians of all ages, the impact will be disempowering, disabling and discriminatory.

Funding

There is no specific funding available to support accessible music transcription. 

Students and adults may apply to specialist awards such as the Elizabeth Eagle-Bott Memorial Fund towards the costs of transcription. However, this is a competitive process with no guarantees of an award.

Freelance blind musicians who earn more than the minimum turnover threshold (currently set at the Lower Earnings Limit of £6500 per year) may be entitled to an allowance towards the cost of transcription under the government’s Access to Work scheme. However, this comes with significant administrative burden and time delays and with no guarantees of ongoing funding.

Proposed cuts to PIP further limit possible options for meeting the additional costs of obtaining accessible music where none of the above apply.

Technology

Development of automated braille music conversion tools have begun to change the way that blind musicians can access scores. See the recent Sound Without Sight podcast on braille music.

In theory, a publisher can now share their files as MusicXML and blind musicians can convert these into braille music within minutes. This new way of accessing music scores has the potential to open up new possibilities for learners, students and professionals alike. However, it is not, and never will be, a complete substitute.

Examples of scores that need human transcription include music with any non-standard notation or signs that the software doesn’t recognise; books with music and text; scores which do not exist digitally such as handwritten facsimiles and hard copy books; scores which are annotated for study or teaching; graphic scores and complex piano and multi-voice scores. So, while automated solutions are already having a transformative impact, they are a tool not a complete solution. 

RNIB has constantly argued that its focus should be on convincing the commercial sector to provide information in accessible formats. It is our view that the publishing industry has already shown a great willingness and desire to facilitate this through the DAISY Consortium’s Accessible Music Publishing Action Group. We would contest that automated conversion from MusicXML to braille music, while an incredible tool, is not yet a complete solution.

Consultation

We regret that RNIB took such an impactful decision with no consultation of relevant music organisations, charities, professional bodies or individual blind and partially sighted musicians. This further erodes the trust of braille music users which was badly damaged just a few short years ago when RNIB took the decision to throw away decades’ worth of hardcopy braille music scores with almost no notice. Many of these scores were uniquely available from RNIB and have left the library collection depleted. 

RNIB’s latest decision will also mean that the braille music library and modified stave notation collection will cease to grow, as the existing collection had been built up primarily by cataloguing work transcribed through personal transcription requests. 

Final thoughts

Braille music remains the only way for blind musicians to access a musical score. Nothing has changed since Louis Braille invented the code in the 1830s.

Braille music enables musical exploration and development for young musicians. Nothing has changed since Louis Braille invented the code in the 1830s.

Braille music affords independent study and discovery; it is a vital tool for those of us who wish to pursue music as a hobby or professionally. Nothing has changed since Louis Braille invented the code in the 1830s.

RNIB’s world-class expertise and decades of experience in braille music have been the backbone for blind musicians over decades. Nothing has changed until April 2025.

RNIB was at the forefront of developing the concepts and standards for modified stave notation. 

RNIB had provided partially sighted musicians with access to music that simply does not exist anywhere else in the world, offering a lifeline to education and life-long learning.

Next steps

We at Sound Without Sight would like to help RNIB understand the impact of this decision. To do this, we are opening up the opportunity for you to tell us what you think.

So, whether you are a blind musician just starting your musical journey, or a professional or anywhere in between, we would love to hear your thoughts.

If you are a parent, music teacher, or support blind students in early years to postgraduate study, we want to hear from you. 

If you are a musical organisation that works with blind musicians, perhaps through funding or employment, please share what impact this might have on your work. 

If you are involved in the wider fields of equality, diversity, inclusion in music, we would welcome your perspectives.

If you are involved in braille music transcription outside the UK and would like to share your experiences in your country, we would be grateful.

If you are a donor or grant awarding body, we would be particularly interested to hear whether helping to secure the future of braille music provision for blind musicians is something that you would be interested in exploring.

How to get involved

You can write to us at: contact@soundwithoutsight.org

If you prefer, you can also use the contact form below.

You can also comment and reply to comments publicly at the end of this post, by logging in to this website (or registering if you are not yet a member). 

Finally, look out for details of a Zoom event soon where you will be able to share your thoughts with others.

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The post The future of braille music under threat in the UK: have your say first appeared on Sound Without Sight.

https://soundwithoutsight.org/the-future-of-braille-music-under-threat-in-the-uk-have-your-say/