Designing for What Cannot Be Seen: Supporting Embodied String Learning for Musicians with Blindness and Low-Vision

Bowed string performance depends on fine bodily coordination usually taught through visual demonstration, creating persistent barriers for musicians with blindness and low-vision (BLV). This design study worked with four advanced BLV string musicians and three instructors using practice-video analysis, lesson observation, and expert reflection to surface embodied, non-visual learning strategies.

The work extends Special Education and special-education-ai by centring disability-led, embodied design rather than retrofitted accessibility. It complements Accessible Learning and Neurodivergent Computing Students research on inclusive interfaces, and frames the instructor role through Equity in one-on-one music training, with implications for Higher Ed and pre-professional contexts where tactile and kinesthetic cues must substitute for demonstration.

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Citation

Shi Shi, Lingyun Chen, Zitao Zhang, Amanda R. Draper, et al. (2026). Designing for What Cannot Be Seen: Supporting Embodied String Learning for Musicians with Blindness and Low-Vision. arXiv:2607.18598. arXiv:2607.18598 [cs.HC].