diff --git a/ascii.php b/ascii.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87a9174
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ascii.php
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Normalize non-ASCII characters to ASCII counterparts where possible.
+ *
+ * @param string $str
+ * @return string
+ */
+function squashCharacters($str)
+{
+    static $normalizeChars = null;
+    if ($normalizeChars === null) {
+        $normalizeChars = array(
+            'À'=>'A', 'Á'=>'A', 'Â'=>'A', 'Ã'=>'A', 'Ä'=>'A', 'Å'=>'A', 'Æ'=>'Ae',
+            'Ç'=>'C',
+            'È'=>'E', 'É'=>'E', 'Ê'=>'E', 'Ë'=>'E',
+            'Ì'=>'I', 'Í'=>'I', 'Î'=>'I', 'Ï'=>'I',
+            'Ð'=>'Dj',
+            'Ñ'=>'N',
+            'Ò'=>'O', 'Ó'=>'O', 'Ô'=>'O', 'Õ'=>'O', 'Ö'=>'O', 'Ø'=>'O',
+            'Ù'=>'U', 'Ú'=>'U', 'Û'=>'U', 'Ü'=>'U',
+            'Ý'=>'Y',
+            'Þ'=>'B',
+            'ß'=>'Ss',
+            'à'=>'a', 'á'=>'a', 'â'=>'a', 'ã'=>'a', 'ä'=>'a', 'å'=>'a', 'æ'=>'ae',
+            'ç'=>'c', 'è'=>'e', 'é'=>'e', 'ê'=>'e', 'ë'=>'e',
+            'ì'=>'i', 'í'=>'i', 'î'=>'i', 'ï'=>'i',
+            'ð'=>'o', 'ñ'=>'n', 'ò'=>'o', 'ó'=>'o', 'ô'=>'o', 'õ'=>'o', 'ö'=>'o', 'ø'=>'o',
+            'ù'=>'u', 'ú'=>'u', 'û'=>'u',
+            'ý'=>'y',
+            'þ'=>'b',
+            'ÿ'=>'y',
+            'Š'=>'S', 'š'=>'s', 'ś' => 's',
+            'Ž'=>'Z', 'ž'=>'z',
+            'ƒ'=>'f'
+        );
+    }
+    return strtr($str, $normalizeChars);
+}
+/**
+ * Convert all fields in $item to ASCII.
+ *
+ * Do this by first normalizing the characters (á -> a, ñ -> n, etc.). If any
+ * non-ASCII characters remain, replace with a default value.
+ *
+ * @param array|object $item Array or object containing fields to convert
+ * @param array|object $template Contains template fields
+ * @param string $default Value to use when field not present in $template
+ * @param array $ignore Optional list of fields to ignore.
+ */
+function convertFieldsToAscii(&$item, $template=null, $default='', array $ignore=null)
+{
+    foreach ($item as $field => &$value) {
+        // Skip fields in the $ignore array.
+        if ($ignore && in_array($field, $ignore)) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        // Normalize non-ASCII characters with ASCII counterparts.
+        $value = squashCharacters($value);
+        // Replace fields that contain non-ASCII characters with a default.
+        if (mb_convert_encoding($value, 'ascii') !== $value) {
+            // If template is provided, use the template field, if set.
+            if ($template) {
+                if (is_object($template) && isset($template->{$field})) {
+                    $value = $template->{$field};
+                } elseif (is_array($template) && isset($template[$field])) {
+                    $value = $template[$field];
+                } else {
+                    $value = $default;
+                }
+            } else {
+                $value = $default;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 563ce4e..2d9b105 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 include "mqtt.php";
+include "ascii.php";
+
 $html = file_get_contents("send.html");
 
 if($_REQUEST['text'] != "")
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ if($_REQUEST['text'] != "")
         {
             if($aktuelleZeile <= 4)
                 if(trim($zeile) != "")
-                    $mqtt->publish("/unhb/dfi/".$aktuelleZeile, trim($zeile), 0);
+                    $mqtt->publish("/unhb/dfi/".$aktuelleZeile, squashCharacters(trim($zeile)), 0);
 
             $aktuelleZeile = $aktuelleZeile+1;
         }