Accessibility declaration

Statement on accessibility

Oesterreich.gv.at strives to make its websites accessible in accordance with the Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz (WZG, Web Accessibility Act), as amended, implementing Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (Official Journal of the European Union L 327 of 2 December 2016, page 1).

This Accessibility Statement shall apply to the website www.oesterreich.gv.at.

Status of compliance with the requirements

Due to the following inconsistencies and exceptions, this website is only partially compliant with conformity level AA of the “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – WCAG 2.1” as well as with the relevant European standard EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08).

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:

a) Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Search results are shown dynamically in the same page as the search was started. This means, for instance, that the page header and its position indicator remain unchanged. The following problems are known: after the search has been launched, the keyboard focus is not in the same area as the search results. Screen reader users do not receive any information about changed content on the website viewed. It is not straightforward to directly access the search results area by keyboard. The jump label link to the content (access key 1) cannot, for instance, be used (WCAG 2.4.1 skip blocks). In the page navigation, when scrolling between the search results pages, the links on the last and on the first pages cannot be focused on via keyboard (tab key) (WCAG 2.4.1 keyboard and 2.4.3 focus order). We are working to resolve these issues. The “submenu” can be reached directly via the jump label link “to submenu”, but the page area itself is erroneously labeled as “sub-navigation”. The jump label links to the page areas “content”, “main menu”, “submenu” and “search” are not completely available in the old browser Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11). Hence the WCAG success criterion 2.4.1 (bypassing blocks) is not fulfilled if you are using IE 11. The rectification of the problem has been commissioned.

b) The content does not fall within the scope of the applicable legislation

Many, predominantly older PDF documents are not accessible. For example, PDF documents are not tagged, meaning that they cannot be satisfactorily understood and used by screen-reader users. This means, that the WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value) is not met. Third party content, such as forms from other organizations which are not with-in the remit of the Federal Chancellery (BKA), are excluded from Directive (EU) 2016/2102. We cannot comment on content from third parties with regard to compliance with accessibility regulations.

c) Disproportionate burden

Our videos are hosted and published on the YouTube video platform. It is not possible to make the required audio descriptions available for some of these videos. As a result, WCAG success criterion 1.2.5 (recorded audio description) is not met.We believe that a remedy would constitute a disproportionate burden in terms of accessibility provisions. We are planning to make alternatives for time-based media (text) available, which will replace these audio descriptions.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This declaration was prepared on 23^rd September 2019. The website’s evaluation with regard to its compliance with the WZG (Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz – Web Accessibility Act) was made in the form of a self-examination in September 2019, to see whether conformity level AA of the WCAG guidelines was achieved. The home page, a site map, a news site, the search function and search results were examined. Our web editing team regularly examines the content on individual pages whenever new content is published. This declaration was updated on 12^th October 2019.

Feedback and contact details

The offers and services on this website are constantly being improved, replaced and expanded. In this context, we attach great importance to ensuring user-friendliness and accessibility.

If you experience any problems that make it difficult for you to access and use our website – i.e. problems and/or deficiencies with regard to compliance with accessibility requirements – please notify us by email.

We will review your comments and contact you as soon as possible.

Please send all messages, comments and suggestions to buergerservice.oegv@brz.gv.at referring in the subject line to “notification of an accessibility impediment on the oesterreich.gv.at website.” Please describe the problem and mention the URL(s) of the website or document concerned.

Contact: Federal data processing center service line email address: buergerservice.oegv@brz.gv.at

Enforcement procedure

If you are not satisfied with how we respond to your enquiry and/or with the answers provided, you may complain to the Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (FFG, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency). The FFG receives complaints electronically via its contact form.

Contact form – digital accessibility complaints office

Complaints received are examined by the FFG with a view to determining if they relate to violations of the provisions stipulated in the Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz (Web Accessibility Act), in particular to deficiencies with respect to compliance with accessibility requirements by a federal government body or a public institution related to the federal government.

Provided the complaint is justified, the FFG shall make recommendations for action to the legal entities concerned and propose measures that serve to remedy and eliminate the existing deficiencies.

Further information on the complaints procedure

Optional content: Additional information and operating assistance

The website www.oesterreich.gv.at was launched in March 2019 as a successor of www.help.gv.at. Further information on how to use it can be found in the sub site operating assistance.