German Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Study and Work

The Deutscher Verein der Blinden und Sehbehinderten in Studium und Beruf e.V. (DVBS) — rendered in English as the German Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Study and Work — is a nationwide German self-help organisation of blind and visually impaired people. Founded in 1916 as the Verein blinder Akademiker Deutschlands (VbAD), it is one of the oldest organisations of its kind in Germany and is headquartered in Marburg an der Lahn. Its members are blind and visually impaired people who want to live independently and achieve professional success despite their disability. The association is recognised as a non-profit and is a member of the World Blind Union. The DVBS promotes blind and visually impaired people in academic and related professions, in corresponding training programmes and in retirement. It represents their social, cultural and legal interests in matters of career orientation, education and further training, labour-market integration, career and rehabilitation. With roughly 1,350 members, it operates throughout Germany. About a quarter of the members are in study or training and are organised in the Fachgruppe Ausbildung (training group). Working members can join eleven profession-related specialist groups covering education and science, law, STEM, media, music, visual impairment, self-employment, social professions and psychology, theology, administration and business. Retired members have their own group. In parallel, the DVBS is organised into 13 regional groups across Germany, enabling local exchange across professions. The association's services are coordinated by a full-time office in Marburg, which supports volunteer self-help work and provides information, a text service, counselling and further education. Among its long-standing services is a reading service for academic literature, established in 1978, in which texts are read according to fixed rules so that academic work — especially citation — becomes possible by listening. The DVBS also publishes practical guides, such as its 'Antrag auf ...' guide to applying for benefits, and runs projects such as agnes@work (Agiles Netzwerk für sehbeeinträchtigte Berufstätige), an agile network for visually impaired working people whose e-learning modules are available online. In 2022 it founded the Louis Leseclub, an audio-based reading club named after Louis Braille. The DVBS is one of 35 corporate member associations of the Deutscher Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband (DBSV) in Berlin, the umbrella organisation of blind and visually impaired self-help in Germany. Under the DBSV brand it cooperates with other associations and the umbrella body on topics beyond its core fields of education and work, and its members are active in DBSV specialist committees including information and telecommunications technology (FIT), environment and transport (GFUV), the concerns of visually impaired people (FBS) and participation in work (GFTA). The DVBS is also a member of the World Blind Union. Its history is closely tied to German disability policy: it played a major role in the 1994 addition of Article 3(3) sentence 2 to the German Basic Law — 'No one may be disadvantaged because of their disability' — and has since worked to realise this principle in legislation, administration and jurisprudence.

The impetus for the founding of what is now the DVBS came from the First World War. Soon after its outbreak, soldiers who had lost their sight at the front returned home. For them, Professor Alfred Bielschowsky, head of the Marburg University Eye Clinic, set up retraining courses. Carl Strehl, a student who had gone blind in a workplace accident in 1907, taught them Braille and typewriting. Among these war-blinded men were also grammar-school pupils, students and young academics. For them, their education or career path seemed abruptly over, because the usual blind crafts offered no adequate alternative. On 6 March 1916, Strehl, Bielschowsky and other like-minded people founded the 'Verein blinder Akademiker Deutschlands' (VbAD). After the Second World War it was renamed 'Verein der blinden Geistesarbeiter Deutschlands' (VbGD). Since 1983 it has been called 'Deutscher Verein der Blinden und Sehbehinderten in Studium und Beruf' (DVBS). In 1971 the association began building nationwide specialist groups (Fachgruppen), which with their own further training and information services form a strategic core of its self-help work. In 1978 the DVBS set up the first reading service for academic literature, in which texts are read according to fixed rules so that academic work, especially citation, becomes possible by listening. In 1990 regional groups were founded in the new federal states following German reunification. In 1994, with major involvement of the DVBS, Article 3(3) sentence 2 was added to the German Basic Law: 'No one may be disadvantaged because of their disability.' Since then the DVBS has worked to realise this principle in legislation, administration and jurisprudence. The association is recognised as a non-profit and has its seat in Marburg an der Lahn. It is a member of the World Blind Union and one of 35 corporate member associations of the Deutscher Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband (DBSV) in Berlin, the umbrella organisation of blind and visually impaired self-help in Germany. Under the DBSV brand it cooperates on topics with other associations and the umbrella body. Its members are active in DBSV specialist committees including information and telecommunications technology (FIT), environment and transport (GFUV), the concerns of visually impaired people (FBS) and participation in work (GFTA). In recent years the DVBS has continued to develop its services. In 2022 it founded the Louis Leseclub, an audio-based reading club named after Louis Braille. Its project agnes@work (Agiles Netzwerk für sehbeeinträchtigte Berufstätige) offers e-learning modules online that convey knowledge about the specific needs of visually impaired people in work and education. The association also publishes practical guides such as the 'Antrag auf ...' guide, which has been thoroughly revised in light of current law and is available as a barrier-free PDF. Its website reports regularly on inclusion, legal careers despite disability, and the employment of severely disabled people.

• 2022

  Founded the Louis Leseclub, an audio-based reading club.

• 1994

  With major involvement of the DVBS, Article 3(3) sentence 2 was added to the German Basic Law: 'No one may be disadvantaged because of their disability.'

• 1990

  Founded regional groups in the new federal states.

• 1983

  Renamed 'Deutscher Verein der Blinden und Sehbehinderten in Studium und Beruf' (DVBS).

• 1978

  Established the first reading service for academic literature.

• 1971

  Began building nationwide specialist groups (Fachgruppen).

• 1916

  Founded as 'Verein blinder Akademiker Deutschlands' (VbAD) by Carl Strehl, Alfred Bielschowsky and others in Marburg.

Non-profit self-help association and interest representation for blind and visually impaired people in study, work and retirement, operating nationwide under the umbrella of the DBSV.

• Reading service for academic literature

  Texts are read according to fixed rules so that academic work, especially citation, becomes possible by listening. Established in 1978.

• Fachgruppen (professional specialist groups)

  Eleven profession-related groups plus a training group and a retirement group, providing further training and information services.

• agnes@work e-learning platform

  E-learning modules of the project agnes@work (Agiles Netzwerk für sehbeeinträchtigte Berufstätige) conveying knowledge about specific needs in work and education.

• Louis Leseclub

  Audio-based reading club founded in 2022, named after Louis Braille.

• 'Antrag auf ...' practical guide

  A practical guide, revised in light of current law, available as a barrier-free PDF.

1. 1DVBS Onlinedvbs-online.de
2. 2Geschichte des DVBSdvbs-online.de
3. 3DVBS - Über unsdvbs-online.de
4. 4DVBS-Fachausschüssedvbs-online.de
5. 5Deutscher Verein der Blinden und Sehbehinderten in Studium und Beruf – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
6. 6German Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Study and Work – Wikidatawikidata.org