The legal situation of accessible communication in Germany

Germany has a highly differentiated legal system consisting of more than 80,000 individual provisions (German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection 2008: 16). The topic of accessible communication is also not exhaustively presented in a single legal text, but is presented in varying ways in countless standard texts or texts on its implementation. In addition to the complexity and intertextuality inherent in our legal system, one reason for this could be the fact that communication is an integral part of all areas of life and is consequently also reflected in many fields of law. Furthermore, the possibilities and means of accessible communication are constantly changing in the wake of new technological developments, which is taken into account in the corresponding legal texts. Another reason can be seen in the fact that the social and political efforts towards promoting equal opportunities and participation of people with disabilities are increasing and thus breaking new ground for inclusion of their interests in more and more standard text types (Aichele 2015: 90).