Accessible Web Content

Not only pavements, station platforms or lifts can form obstacles for persons with a disability but also websites. Obstacle-free web-design is the way of designing a website in a way that everybody can use and read it.

Webcontent developers often neglect the fact that some people are physically disabled. Certain programming methods, however, might create obstacles for those people using the internet. Poor descriptions of graphics, for example, can create an obstacle, as can disadvantageous colour-combinations, complicated structures of the website or difficult handling of the navigation tools.

Provided that a web-designer adheres to good programming he will facilitate surfing for sensory or physically disabled people on the internet instead of hindering them.

Essential criteria and recommendations concerning barrier-free web-design have been published by the ‘Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung (BITV)’ (regulations for obstacle-free IT) which came in force on 24th July 2002. Websites designed in accordance with BITV recommendations help blind and partially sighted persons in particular, but not only them.

For further information concerning this topic click …:

• http://www.barrierefreies-webdesign.de/
• http://de.selfhtml.org/
• http://barrierefrei.e-workers.de/
• http://www.einfach-fuer-alle.de/
• http://www.bik-online.info/
• http://www.abi-projekt.de/
• http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/

Browser

In order to correctly display websites conforming to the norm a browser is required. Unfortunately, the most common browser MS Internet Explorer cannot correctly display norm-conforming websites. Learn more about browser-compatibility at www.css4you.de. If you use IE it may be the case that single signs or lines will not be displayed correctly. We will do our best to find a workaround for you in these cases. If you have a problem with an incorrectly displayed page please send a short description to the Web administrator of this website. You use the browser »Opera 9.80«.

We recommend to use a browser witch meets the US federal government requirements and the Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung (BITV) that software be easily accessible to users with physical impairments.

As this problem is not restricted to websites only we recommend that you use one of the following up-to-date browsers. All these browsers can be downloaded free of charge.

• Chrome  www.google.com/chrome/
• Firefox www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
• Konqueror www.konqueror.org/
• Mozilla www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/
• Opera www.opera.com/
• Safari www.apple.com/safari/

Is this site conform to W3C guidelines?