Incorrect slur identification with screen readers and the latest update of MuseScore

• Feb 10, 2021 - 02:20

I think there is a bug in MuseScore when slurs cross staves. The descriptor that gets read out by the screen reader only indicates that the the first measure of the slur is involved but the playback includes all of the measures if you listen closely enough. If a slur is only on one staff across one or more measures, the screen reader output is correct and so is the text on the status bar. I get the same behavior from NVDA on Windows and VoiceOver on Mac.

The attached file is what I received from my piano teacher and tested with on both platforms.

Can't tell you much more than that as I am a blind music student.

Update: Doesn't appear to be 100% repeatable. After restarting MuseScore and navigating though the score with Option-Right-Arrow and Option-Left-Arrow, the correct slur description is being read out.

Update: The second screenshot shows another instance of the slur description being incorrect. The end of the slur is on staff 2 but the description says it is on staff 1.

Update: Check for Update said I was up to date but checking the download page shows that 3.6.2 is available and I am experiencing the same behaviors with 3.6.2.

Attachment Size
Party_Time_Student_Part.mscz 11.01 KB
Screen Shot 2021-02-09 at 9.22.53 PM.png 740.83 KB
Screen Shot 2021-02-09 at 9.49.05 PM.png 497.57 KB

Comments

• Feb 11, 2021 - 04:10

Hello, and welcome! It doesn't surprise me that corss-staff slurs are not read correctly - I can see they are not represented correctly in the status bar either, and it is more or less the same information that screen readers give. But a few things about your post do supririse me:

1) the fact that you can hear any difference in slurred vs unslurred notes at all (it's there, but incredibly subtle, and only there for a couple of instruments)

2) the fact that you are hearing voiceover read anything at all as you navigate the score

1) I can chalk up to your ears being especially sensitive and I applaud you there, but as far as I know VOiceOver doesn't read scores, period. If it somehow suddenly started working that would be fantastic, but I wonder if you meant something different?

Also, I did a quick check and previous versions were no different regarding the cross-staff slurs. Wold you be able to submit this as an official bug report to the issue tracker (use "Report a Bug
from within MuseScore). It's apparently as accessible an interface as the forum, but this would be a good test :-).

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• Feb 11, 2021 - 04:21

On the Mac, getting VoiceOver to read the score is a matter of putting the cursor at the bottom of the screen over the status bar and then moving the mouse just slightly as I move from item to item for VoiceOver to notice that it needs to re-read to the end of the line again. It's a very slow hack but it is better than nothing when I'm on my Mac instead of my much heavier Windows laptop. It definitely works much better on Windows without the need to wiggle the mouse to get NVDA to speak up.

I did end up listening to the piano piece several dozen times to try to make out the notes by ear and I've been concentrating on figuring out how to do slurs properly on the piano for a while.

Sure, I'll look for the Report a Bug menu option and submit it there.

What I find strange is that the behavior degrades over time and a restart of MuseScore corrects the behavior for a little while.

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