Introducing an AI-Powered Accessible Manga Reader

By Shaima, 17 July, 2026

Forum
Windows

As someone who is blind and has always loved Japanese media, I've often wished there were a way to experience manga. Since manga is such a visual medium, it has traditionally been difficult for blind readers to access. This project is my attempt to make that experience more accessible.
This application is an accessible manga reader that uses AI vision models, including Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT to analyze and describe manga pages. The AI describes visuals and reads text following comic reading rules to help convey the story in a more complete way.
For transparency, I don't have a programming background. This project was developed with the assistance of Claude by Anthropic, which I used throughout the development process to build the application.
This is the first public beta release, so you may encounter bugs or unexpected behavior. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome, and I'll do my best to improve the application over time.
It's also worth noting that AI isn't perfect. Manga can be visually complex, and descriptions won't always be completely accurate. However, from my experience, the results are generally good enough to make following and enjoying manga series possible.
You can download the beta release here:
https://github.com/Shaima-Almarzooqi/Accessible-Manga-Reader/releases
I hope this project helps make manga more accessible and gives other blind readers another way to enjoy the stories they love.

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Comments

By Guilherme on Saturday, July 18, 2026 - 09:36

Thank you for the great idea of creating an accessible manga reader for blind and visually impaired people! I’ve always wanted to be able to read manga in an accessible way. How do I use the program?

By Shaima on Saturday, July 18, 2026 - 16:23

To use the program, download the .exe file from the link below:
https://github.com/Shaima-Almarzooqi/Accessible-Manga-Reader/releases/download/v0.11.1/AccessibleMangaReader-x64.exe
(That's the version for most Windows PCs. If you're on a Windows ARM machine, such as a Snapdragon laptop, download the arm64 file from the releases page instead.)
Open the file from your Downloads folder. It needs no installation and runs immediately. On first launch, Windows may show a SmartScreen warning that the app is unrecognised, since it isn't code-signed; choose "More info," then "Run anyway."
To read manga, the app needs an API key from one of the supported AI services. For most people that will be Google Gemini, which offers a free key. Other services work too if you have a key for them.
If you're not sure how to get a key, there's a full user manual built into the app: press F1 to open it, and it walks you through the process step by step. It also covers all the features and keyboard shortcuts.
If you need any help or have questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] and I'll be glad to assist.