color inversion/ dark mode

• Jan 25, 2021 - 16:32

So I have two major problems in trying to use Musescore. The first problem is the fact that I am an idiot, but there is not much anyone can do about that.

The second problem is I am legally blind and in order to use any computer device I need a dark background with yellow or white text. Most apps work well with windows accessibility settings but Musescore does not. I can use the windows magnifier lens to invert a smaller aria but the surrounding white light is so overpowering and blinding that it is almost impossible to do anything meaningful with muse score.

has anyone found a solution for this issue???

Minton J Miller

Comments

• Jan 25, 2021 - 16:58

I don't know if there is already an automatic way but, with patience, via Preferences you can set the page color to black, from Format/Style/Text set the possible to yellow.
This is a recurring request.

Attachment Size
MDTest.mscz 10.99 KB

Reply

• Jan 25, 2021 - 18:19

Too bad to hear about it being a recurring request. Musescore says the pride themselves on accessibility features yet next to magnification, this is the most used feature for many people with vision issues. I will take a look at how many steps it takes in preferences but the problem is I need dark mode to create with and then standard mode for others to use in videos and printouts. Thanks though for the reply.

Reply

• Jan 25, 2021 - 19:14

I did come up with a work around for now. The screen magnifer I use has several modes including a window/lens and a full screen. In full screen, I cam invert the colors of everything. It is a very awkward way to work but it can be done. So for now, this is the least awkward way I have found and being legally blind is always about finding the least awkward of doing anything :)

Reply

• Jan 27, 2021 - 06:46

Actually, you can set the music to any color you want, in Edit / Preferences / Advanced, see ui/score/defaultColor. Note it might not take effect immediately on the score you are current viewing, but will in future scores you open or create. You can create separate workspace with different GUI preferences, so it's easy to switch color schemes. Only limitation here is that staff line color is not subject to this setting, it's a property of the score itself, so you need to set that in Staff/Part Properties.

Regarding accessibility features, some of the things we support are:

  • ability to set UI colors like this
  • ability to set UI sizes in Edit / Preferences
  • ability to create large print scores with a very high degree of customization - see https://musescore.org/en/tutorials/modified-stave-notation
  • ability to control all all aspects of score navigation and editing via keyboard only
  • full screenreader feedback using NVDA, JAWS< and Orca (so far no luck on Narrator or VoiceOver but we haven't given up)
  • MusicXML import/export that is optimized to support Braille converters
  • coming in MuseScore 4, built-in Braille export

Feel free to ask further question and give additional feedback

Reply

• Jan 27, 2021 - 18:09

I appreciate that you are triing but I do not think you quite understand the problem. So on my pc, in my accessibility settings, if I press alt+left shift+prnt scrn my pc inverts colors on almost any program ap. On my magnifier app, I press crntl+alt+i to do the same. My cell phone a dark mode and an accessibility shortcut that allows me to switch back and forth as needed. I need a dark background with yellow or white text to do the majority of my work, but I need to be able to switch back at a moments notice to make it viewable for others, to copy and past to documents, to screen capture for videos and to print. It needs to be done quickly and be consistent.

The pc shortcut that inverts everything has absolutely zero effect in the musescore app. I nave not had much need over the years to use the magnifier app in full screen mode and had forgotten I could but for now it seems to be the best shortcut I have.

Without a dark background and light text, I literally cannot read anything on a screen and it is actually quite painful to even try.

Again, I appreciate that you folks are trying and your list of accessibility features is impressive but-- and this a big but-- in the world of partially sighted computer users, the ability to quickly and reliably switch color schemes back and forth is equal to or a very very very close second to magnification

So I was told at the start of this that you folks get asked this a lot, and it saddens me that in all this time you do not have a better answer for partially sighted users.

I can not speak for Mac users right now but for windows users may I suggest to you that until musescore comes with a better built in solution that you remind partially sighted users to use the windows magnifier in full screen inverted color mode. This will eliminate most if not all of the painful blinding white screen and give better control. Although I prefer using windows inverted mode with a smaller magnifier lens, that is not an option with musescore right now so windows magnifier in it's own inverted mode in full screen is probably the best advice musescore can give to users like me. In the partially sight world, no one solution works for everything so it helps to have a knowledge of multiple tools to get the job done.

Minton J miller

Reply

• Jan 27, 2021 - 21:14

I do understand that MuseScore does not have a single keystroke to invert colors. So if you are suggesting we add one, that does sound like a good idea, and it may well be considered for the next major update.

But meanwhile, the method I described should work fine. I tested it and worked that way for a while last night with no problems. It took only a minute or two to set up, and then as I said, I could switch back and forth between my workspaces easily.

The feature you are asking for has not been requested before very often at all that I can recall - certainly nowhere near as much as the other features I described. And that is why we have put a priority on the features our users have asked for much more often.

The request I can in the issue tracker already is this one - #305619: Invert the score colors in dark mode. There was only one user requesting it, not any "me toos" yet, but I encourage to you add a comment there expressing your support for the idea! And if you know others who would benefit from this, encourage them to do the same. Again, we do tend to respond to features requested by many users, which is why those other things I mentioned have happened - we got dozens if not hundreds of such requests for those over the years. But only a handful at most for this one, for some reason, and I don't know if any of them have specifically mentioned accessibility as a reason for wanting this, which would have automatically caused it to get more attention.

Reply

• Jan 28, 2021 - 02:18

So I followed the link you gave for issue tracker and put in my two cents. Yes, it was exactly on topic and everyone there has the same issue as I do. That is to say that your solution for now is actually not practical because too many elements have to be changed every time you switch. So at the risk of being repetitious and somewhat annoying, I respectfully suggest again that you recommend to users with this issue to use windows magnifier in full screen mode and invert the colors in the magnifier app. It is by far the fastest and most reliable way to switch back and forth until musescore creates their own shortcut.

Reply

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.