James Risdon on behalf of Sound Without Sight Steering Group, December 2025:
Introduction
Back in April, RNIB announced that it was to cease Personal Transcription and outsource this service to a third-party commercial organisation.
Sound Without Sight wrote a response to this decision which focussed on the impact it would have on blind and partially sighted musicians. The article was shared widely across social media and elicited a strong response.
Following an initial meeting and a series of focus groups during the Summer, RNIB has now announced the outcome of its consultation.
The decision
RNIB will retain a Personal Transcription service for braille music in-house, recognising “its unique value to our users”. This will be free of charge. All other personal transcription, including large and modified print music, will continue to be outsourced to A2I Transcription Services, and will likewise continue to be subsidised by RNIB.
This is clearly a very positive outcome for blind and partially sighted musicians. It safeguards a unique service; it values and protects the guarantee of quality that comes from expert human transcription, and it retains this at no additional cost to the user.
It is right that we take a moment to acknowledge the fact that RNIB has taken time to listen to users, assess the impact of its proposed cuts and reverse its initial decision in respect of braille music.
It’s notable that RNIB’s statement talks about the “specialist nature” of this work, and links this to an ambition to “support growth in provision across the UK” through “collaboration with the sector”. On face value, this is encouraging, but a slightly more cynical interpretation might be “We reserve the right to revisit this model at a future date”.
The desire to “prepare and empower customers through the transition to digital braille” may likewise sit uncomfortably with some, and betray a lack of deeper understanding of how braille is most effectively read in different contexts.
What now?
The reality is more nuanced: we cannot afford for something as crucial as braille music to be reliant on a single charity, especially a charity for whom numbers and reach, rather than impact, are such persuasive drivers in decision-making.
For those of us with any involvement in music in accessible formats, RNIB’s decision is positive. It provides continuity and certainty, at least in the short to medium term. Perhaps more importantly, it also provides all of us the breathing space to pause, take stock and begin to contemplate the challenge of how we can create and retain a healthy and thriving eco-system for music in accessible formats; one which can withstand the ever-present economic pressures and periodic redefining of strategic directions of a large charity.
There is a genuinely exciting potential for RNIB’s desire for “collaboration with the sector” to open up valuable discussion around fundamental questions, such as standards and protocols for transcription and who sets them; funding and sponsorship for specialist services; support for teachers and young learners and better links between education, assessment, and transcription; technological developments; links with music publishers and notation editors; international cooperation; copyright; and the sharing of expertise.
These are complex topics that cut across the work of several organisations in the mainstream music industry and the visual impairment sector. Aside from these wider topics is the question of how to increase capacity to meet the demands of learners, students, amateurs and professionals alike.
Closing thoughts
Many will remain critical of RNIB announcing their proposals without initial consultation, and the fact that it took a very public campaign to help RNIB understand what they arguably should have known about the importance of personal transcription of music.
But more than safeguarding a unique service, RNIB’s invitation to collaborate also affords the potential to initiate a more unified and strategic approach to meeting the need for music in accessible formats in the years to come. Ultimately, this could be a much more significant outcome.
