capella script documentation
Where am I? Support for blind users

The script shows a window with an edit field containing a description of the note object at the cursor position. This description may be read aloud by a screen reader or routed to a Braille display.

Note object description

The note object description is composed of object type, musical position description, graphic position description, voice description, stave description, key description, system description.
If there are further informations linked to the note object, like dynamic directions, slurs, or other texts, the number of such linked objects is shown in the graphic position description. For each of these linked objects, a new textwindow is shown, which contains a verbal description of the linked object. You can proceed to the next linked object using the tab key.

Example: The first note G in a one-voice song in G major would render the following display:
4g4 M1+0 O4 V1 St1 key1 Sy1
Note G in 4th octave (treble clef on the 2nd line), quarter note (crotchet), measure 1 at the start, note object number 4 (predecessors are treble clef, key signature and time signature), voice 1, stave 1, key G-major, system 1.

1. Object type

First of all, the note object behind the cursor is described by type. Possible types are:

Clef sign
'clef'

Key sign
'key 1' = 1 sharp, 'key 2' = 2 sharps
'key -1' = 1 flat, 'key -2' = 2 flats

Time sign
'meter 3/4' or 'meter 1' (unfortunately, instead of 4/4 you see the mathematical shortened value 1, instead of 6/8 your see the mathematical shortened value 3/4. This is a consequence of the simple implementation as a capella python script and can be changed only in a follow-up version of capella).

Note description
Octave description - possibly accidental - note name - note value - possibly dotting

Chord description
(Note description Note description ...)

Rest description
'R' - Notenwert

Whole measure rest description
'RW2' - Whole measure rest 2 measures

Barline description
'fixed barline'
Unfortunately, no repeat directions can be shown currently.

Octave description
"1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"

Accidental
'+' = sharp, '-' = flat
Similar to note input via computer keyboard, accidentals are shown only if they differ from the current key (If you want to show all accidentals, you can switch the global script variable g_noRedundantAlters = False).

Note name
"c","d","e","f","g","a","b"

Note value
'1' = whole, '2' = half, '4' = quarter (crotchet), '8' = eighth (quaver), '16' = sixteenth
'12' = eighth in a triplet, '6' = quarter in a triplet

Dotting
'.', '..'

2. Musical position description

Position counted in quarter notes in the current system, similar to the capella status line (but also counting measure numbers)
'M1+0' = Start of first measure
'M1+1' = After the first quarter note
'M2+1/2' = After the second quarter note in the second measure of the current stave

3. Graphic position description

Object number + possibly number of linked graphic objects
'O1' = Object 1, usually a clef, without linked objects
'O3+1' = Object 3 with 1 linked object, so there is another text window with further information about this object.

4. Voice description
'V1' = first voice of this stave

5. Stave description
'St2' = second stave of current system

6. Key description
'Key0' = without sharps and flats
'Key2' = 2 sharps
'Key3' = 3 flats

7. System description
'Sy1' = first system of the score

Linked objects

The following linked objects are recognized and reported at present:

Dynamic directions: piano, forte, fortissimo etc.
simple text
freeform text
slur
triplet, duplet, X-tuplet
crescendo
decrescendo
ending
trill
transposable
guitar diagram
image
line
rectangle
ellipse
wavy line
(graphical) note lines
polygon
group (of grafic objects)
musical symbol
Be aware that musical symbols other than dynamic directions are not yet explained correctly. They are simply reported with their ascii-equivalent of the corresponding capella3-character. This will be changed in future versions of this script, if the overall strategy is approved.