How Do We Make Reading Truly Accessible? A Conversation With Thomas Kahlisch

This blog post is based on an interview conducted in German and translated into English. You can find the original version here.

Accessibility touches nearly every facet of society. It’s the drive to overcome the many literal and metaphorical obstacles that people with disabilities and special needs face in their daily lives. For a long time, one such obstacle has been the limited availability of texts for blind and visually impaired people.

Not least because this topic is highly relevant to us as a publisher, we invited Prof. Dr. Thomas Kahlisch, the director of the German Centre for Accessible Reading (dzb lesen) for an interview. Since 1999, the computer scientist has dedicated his career to breaking down the barriers that prevent blind and visually impaired people from reading.

Florian Hofbauer, archivist and process manager at De Gruyter Brill’s Paradigm Publishing Services, spoke with Thomas Kahlisch about the mission of dzb lesen, the challenges faced by visually impaired students, how to make complex academic literature accessible, and much more.

Florian Hofbauer: Mr. Kahlisch, could you please present dzb lesen to us? What kind of institution is it and how long has it been in existence?

Thomas Kahlisch: The dzb lesen was founded in 1894, making it the oldest library for blind people in Germany. At that time, it was called the German Central Library for the Blind (Deutsche Zentralbücherei für Blinde). The primary focus of its work was the transcription of literature into Braille – books, magazines, and even, relatively early on, sheet music. So, it is an institution with a long tradition.

“All works that we lend out must be produced in-house … Only blind, visually impaired, or reading-impaired people are allowed to borrow them.”

Over time, and especially after the Second World War, the Central Library for the Blind existed in the GDR as a state-funded central institution that prepared literature for blind and visually impaired people. After reunification in 1990, we became an institution of the free state of Saxony, belonging to the Ministry of Science and the Arts and financed through state funds. However, it is important to note that we offer our services throughout all Germany, not just in Saxony.

All works that we lend out must be produced in-house. This means that we ourselves transcribe books, magazines, and sheet music into Braille. We produce audiobooks, distribute magazines, tactile illustrations, children’s literature – a broad spectrum of representations in relief. We lend all these materials to our users free of charge. Only blind, visually impaired, or reading-impaired people are allowed to borrow them.

In recent years, large-print materials and digital offerings have been added such as audiobooks or Braille texts in digital form which can be borrowed via an app or the Internet.

FH: How long have you been offering digital publications?

TK: It started with audiobooks. Old books on cassette were converted into digital versions in DAISY format, which stands for Digital Accessible Information System. It is a global standard that allows users to navigate within an audiobook through an integrated table of contents. In Germany this process began around 2001.

* The European Accessibility Act (EAA) entered into force in June 2025. The directive sets out specific requirements for a wide range of products and services offered by companies across the EU, with the aim of ensuring equal access for people with disabilities.

Digital Braille texts were added, which can be read on a Braille display. And now – also within the context of the European Accessibility Act*– accessible e-books in EPUB 3 format.

FH: Can you tell us a little more about the landscape of accessible academic literature? Which institutions other than your center come to mind?

TK: Academic literature is a special case in Germany; I would be happy to talk about that. We do not offer this service ourselves, but there are universities that have their own service centers and prepare and process academic literature, for example, in Dresden, Karlsruhe, Marburg, Gießen, and Dortmund. They have either student assistants or central accessibility teams to carry this work out. But by no means does every university have such a center. Many students must then work with reading assistants or figure out individualized solutions, such as the regular shipment of materials from one university to another.

FH: That sounds like a lot of extra work on top of their studies for many blind, visually impaired, and reading impaired people who do not study at universities with their own service centers.

TK: Yes, that is exactly the problem. There are already quite a few service centers, but there are also many universities where little has been done in this area. For students, this then becomes a question how successfully they can pursue their studies there. Some say, “I will just struggle through at a university without a service center” because there are these individualized solutions. Support services such as reading assistants must then be used, which of course cost far more resources than a digital alternative would.

FH: If we delve deeper into the practical use of accessible eBooks by users, which formats are best suited for this purpose? Is the PDF still a topic of contention at your center?

TK: EPUB 3 as a standalone, structured document format, is vastly superior to PDF. EPUB is based on XML structures, specifically HTML5. It is the modern, open format that the provisions of the European Accessibility Act are also geared toward.

With EPUB 3, you can structure factual and technical texts, integrate tables, use MathML for formulas, and insert alternative texts for illustrations.

“Accessible PDFs are complex … and in the end, the result is often unsatisfactory for screen reader users.”

The problem with PDF lies in the format itself. PDF dates back to a time before XML structuring. Although improvements have been integrated into newer PDF versions and PDF/UA, the tools are still not where they need to be. Many publishers are very PDF-oriented, especially in Germany. This is understandable, but accessible PDFs are complex, particularly when dealing with complex structures. And in the end, the result is often unsatisfactory for screen reader users.

FH: That’s very insightful, especially given the wealth of information available on the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Do you have an overview or information center for the German-speaking market that you can recommend?

TK: Together with the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels), the libraries for the blind, including dzb lesen, have developed German guidelines which are available online via the Börsenverein. These guidelines describe how to create accessible websites, EPUBs, and PDFs. A task force has been in place for about five years and has worked with us to draft these guidelines, so I can definitely recommend this platform.

“Technology helps, but it does not replace expertise.”

FH: Alternative texts are a big issue in the EAA. Many works have hundreds or thousands of illustrations. How manageable is that?

TK: It is a challenge. We helped develop the requirements and train publishers on this topic, for example through the Frankfurt Media Campus. Demand is high.

Books with 500 or more images take a lot of time. Ideally, authors collaborate with us because they know the technical context. AI is used, yes – but often the context is missing, and many corrections have to be made afterwards. Technology helps, but it does not replace expertise.

FH: And what about highly complex materials – maps, comics, tables?

TK: Of course, there are limits. The effort involved can be enormous in some cases. This is where collaboration can help, for example with dzb lesen, with blista in Marburg, or with the media centers of special-needs schools. We, for example, have expertise in creating tactile illustrations. This is not a skill that can be acquired “just like that.” So yes: collaboration is the right path forward, exchanging experiences and, of course, working in a way that makes sense for everyone.

“Collaboration is the right path forward, exchanging experiences and, of course, working in a way that makes sense for everyone.”

However, as a public library, we have limited staffing resources; we cannot fully cover other scientific disciplines such as mathematics or physics. Institutions such as those in Karlsruhe or Dresden would be better suited for those.

FH: You mentioned involving the dzb in working groups for the European Accessibility Act – so are you satisfied with the legislation and its implementation?

TK: The law itself was drafted by the EU, not by us. Of course, there are points of criticism. But fundamentally, it is very positive that digital literature, shopping channels, ATMs, public transport, and information terminals must become accessible.

The occasionally lengthy transition periods are problematic. It is absurd that banks have until 2040 to implement accessibility – the technology has existed for years. Online service providers and publishers are expected to deliver immediately, but banks are given another 15 years’ time. I do not understand that.

It is also a pity that not all industries are covered – the healthcare sector, for example, is not affected at all.

FH: As a final question, let’s take a look into the future. What advice can you give publishing houses on the subject of accessibility? Will AI solve our problems on its own?

TK: I am a computer scientist, but I am skeptical that AI will solve everything. It is understandable that publishers cannot make tens of thousands of backlist titles completely accessible, especially those that, individually, may not have attract many views. Advocacy groups for people with disabilities naturally say, “Everything must be accessible.” Politically, that is difficult. However, the idea of working in a targeted, cooperative manner and with a realistic level of effort makes sense. In many cases, pragmatic solutions will have to be found. This cannot be done without exchange and sharing of experience. Both we and the other information centers can be contacted with questions and are very happy to help.

[Title image by Irkham Khalid/iStock/Getty Images Plus]