On April 8, people in parts of North America will look to the skies. What’s happening? A total solar eclipse. The Moon will pass in front of the Sun. In certain places on Earth, it will almost completely block the view of the Sun for a few minutes.

But what about people who are blind or can’t see well? They can use devices to hear or feel the event.

On eclipse day, students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired plan to sit outside. They will listen to a small device called a LightSound box. It represents the changing light with sounds.

When the Sun is bright, there will be high, delicate flute notes. As the Moon begins to cover the Sun, listeners will hear mid-range notes from a clarinet. Darkness is a low clicking sound.

Wanda Díaz-Merced is a blind astronomer. She helped create LightSound. Ms. Díaz-Merced and others want to provide at least 750 devices for eclipse events in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

“The sky belongs to everyone,” says Ms. Díaz-Merced. “I want students to be able to hear the eclipse, to hear the stars.”

The Perkins Library in Watertown, Massachusetts, plans to broadcast the tones of the LightSound device over Zoom. Members will listen online and by telephone.

Other folks will experience the solar event through the sense of touch. A company called Tactile Engineering created the Cadence tablet. The tablet is about the size of a cell phone. Rows of dots pop up and down. The tablet can be used to read Braille and feel graphics and movie clips.

To experience the eclipse, users each put their hands over one of the devices. They can feel the Moon move slowly in front of the Sun.  

The Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired started using the tablet last year.  Student Jazmine Nelson looks forward to joining the crowd at a big eclipse-watching event. With the tablet, “you can feel like you’re a part of something,” she says.

The April 8 eclipse will move diagonally across North America. Who can see it? Folks from Mazatlan, Mexico, to Indianapolis, Indiana, to Montreal, Canada. Want to watch the eclipse next week? Read tips for viewing it here.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the Earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. — Psalm 8:1