Ali Caner Alpaslan created Engelsiz Nota in 2018 to bridge the gap in musical notation accessibility for the visually impaired.
A Turkish digital music library, established by a visually impaired musician, empowers blind artists by converting musical scores into readable formats for study and performance.
After losing his vision in a childhood car accident, Ali Caner Alpaslan created Engelsiz Nota (Accessible Sheet Music) in 2018 to bridge the gap in musical notation accessibility for the visually impaired.
The online library now hosts nearly 11,000 accessible musical scores and has 350 members with visual impairments, up from around 100 when it was established. It allows sighted musicians to prepare scores in digital form, which are then converted within seconds into files that visually impaired musicians can read on specialized displays or print using dedicated printers.
Once digitized, a music score can serve thousands of visually impaired musicians worldwide without needing to be converted again. Access is completely free for anyone with a documented visual impairment of 40 percent or higher.
Highlighting the barriers in the music world, Alpaslan emphasized that people with visual disabilities are often left behind simply because they can’t access scores at the same time as sighted players.
Delays in getting sheet music often cause conductors, choir leaders, and teachers to wrongly assume non-sighted musicians can’t read music at all, he explained. As a result, they often have to overcome prejudice before being accepted into environments where they can perform.
Another challenge is that music educators may not know how to teach visually impaired students, while other musicians may be unsure how to work with them.
Alpaslan said society held contradictory assumptions about visually impaired musicians. While some believe that people who cannot see have better hearing and are therefore more talented in music, others assume they cannot achieve the same level of success as sighted musicians.
Alpaslan sees artificial intelligence as a potential solution to some of the remaining barriers.
“Yesterday, we were saying that artificial intelligence should also read sheet music for visually impaired people. Today, we are gradually seeing steps being taken in this direction,” he said.
He added that artificial intelligence could eventually make it possible for visually impaired musicians to access the same musical scores at the same time as everyone else.
