Uma ferramenta de suporte ao ensino de violão para pessoas com deficiência visual com base em audiodescrições

Abstract

Studies indicate that 3.5% of the Brazilian population has some form of visual impairment, totaling approximately 6.5 million people, of whom around 530,000 are completely blind. The inclusion of this population is essential to promote diversity, innovation, and the construction of a fairer society. Global initiatives and policies, such as the Salamanca Statement and the National Education Guidelines and Framework Law (LDB) of 1994, reinforce the importance of the social and educational inclusion of People with Disabilities (PwD). Assistive Technologies (AT) play a crucial role in ensuring access to information and communication for people with visual impairments. Among the available resources, notable examples include the braille system, screen readers, speech synthesis software, and tactile devices. Research conducted by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) highlighted the widespread use of digital devices in Brazil, suggesting that the development of smartphone applications can be an effective strategy to expand access to these technologies. The guitar, a popular and accessible instrument in Brazil, is studied by individuals from diverse backgrounds, including both sighted persons and people with visual impairments. Adapting guitar instruction for this audience requires specific methodologies and pedagogical resources. In this context, tools such as braille music notation — which adapts the braille system to represent musical symbols — and audio description — which converts visual content into verbal descriptions — are employed, thus removing barriers to artistic expression. The general objective of this study is to analyze the performance of a music learning tool based on audio description, developed to assist people with visual impairments during the initial stages of learning to play the guitar. To this end, an application named Tocaqui was created, utilizing audio descriptions to enable guitar instruction for this audience. Acceptance and usability tests of the Tocaqui application were conducted with five individuals with visual impairments. The results indicated that the tool demonstrated strong performance in the teaching and learning process, broadening access to musical education for people with disabilities and contributing to their educational and social inclusion.