Ali Caner Alpaslan lost his sight in a traffic accident at eight months old. Throughout his childhood, his mother, an art teacher, had him play games to strengthen his hearing, making sounds from different materials in various containers around the house. Ali began his musical life at age six in the Turkish State Polyphonic Choir of the Ministry of Culture. Today, he serves as a Braille Music Notation Expert at the Barrier-Free Music Library at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University, whose founding he led.

When it became clear that Ali could not follow the conductor and the notes as easily as the other choristers, the conductor introduced him to a visually disabled university student. Ali worked with that fellow student to transcribe the choir’s notes he needed to memorize into Braille. His participation in the chorus from an early age inspired him to pursue fine arts in both high school and university. While both his classmates and teachers in high school and university offered help, the lack of accessible musical notation remained a challenge throughout his entire academic life.

He began seeking ways to eliminate the obstacles he had faced for other musicians with visual disabilities and to share his own archive of accessible notes with anyone in need. As a first step, he researched the number of individuals with visual disabilities currently studying or graduated from music programs to better understand the scale of the need. Then, he established Barrier-Free Notes in 2018. Through Barrier-Free Notes, Ali digitized the accessible notes he had used in his own music education. Working with dedicated volunteers, he broadened the collection, transforming more musical pieces into accessible formats for the wider community.

Since 2018, Ali has transformed approximately 11,000 notes into accessible Braille notation, creating a massive digital resource for the visually disabled community. Despite this progress, these notes account for less than 1 percent of all musical pieces. Ali remains committed to expanding the collection, ensuring more musicians can access the notes they need. Through its website, Barrier-Free Notes makes accessible musical note sheets available to all individuals with visual disabilities who own a Braille display or who can reach an institution equipped with a Braille printer. For those without such means, the project also produces Braille printed note sheets upon request.

In 2021, through the Barrier-Free Notes initiative, Ali spearheaded the establishment of the first Accessible Music Library at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University. Beyond this milestone, he has also guided other universities in establishing similar accessible facilities.

Ali Caner Alpaslan continues to make a difference in the lives of music enthusiasts with visual disabilities of all ages by making sheet music more accessible and widely available for visually disabled music students and professionals.