Accessibility Statement

The Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute endeavours to ensure accessibility of its websites in accordance with German legislation. The legal basis is the German Act on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz, BGG) as well as the Accessible Information Technology Ordinance (Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung, BITV 2.0) as amended.

This Accessibility Statement is applicable to all websites stating the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute as the editor in the legal notice section.

Current compatibility with requirements

We tested the accessibility of our websites on the basis of BITV 2.0 as of 21 May 2019. The tests included the requirements according to WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) as amended on 5 June 2018.

Compliance with the requirements is monitored with the Web Accessibility Checker system (AChecker: https://achecker.achecks.ca/, WCAG 2.1 Level AA).

For the purpose of the tests, a representative number of pages were selected in each case.

The selected pages all met BITV level.

This Statement was prepared on 16.09.2020.

This Statement was checked on 22.03.2022.

According to the monitoring result, the BAW’s websites partially meet the above requirements, as there are some exceptions. Some websites do not fully comply with the guidelines referred to below.

  • Relating to readability (WCAG 2.1, Guideline 3.1): on some websites the language is not specified. HTML tags (<i> and <b>) have been used for design purposes. Reason: fault in third-party software (language). Google requires that material icons are incorporated with <i>.
  • Relating to navigability (WCAG 2.1, Guideline 2.4): the hierarchy of heading elements is not always correct. Icons do not always contain anchor text. Reason: it is not always possible to follow the hierarchy of heading elements because of the output of dynamic page content from databases. Third-party software contains some unlabelled graphic links.
  • Relating to text alternatives (WCAG 2.1, Guideline 1.1): text alternatives are not provided for all non-text content. Reason: no text alternative is provided for decorative images. Third-party software and legacy systems do not always include label texts.
  • Relating to distinguishability (WCAG 2.1, Guideline 1.4): In some areas the contrast between the foreground and the background is not sufficient for users with low vision. Reason: some (greyed out) inactive menu items have insufficient contrast to the background. In the IT Navigator, coloured areas are used to improve visual distinguishability, which do not always provide sufficient colour contrast. Font sizes are therefore used to achieve greater contrast.

PDF-Downloads

Some PDF files may not be accessible due to their specific content (e.g. model visualisation, visual material, scientific formulas). For some documents, especially older ones, the original file is not available. We aim to provide accessible PDF files as far as possible in the future. If you need a PDF file that is non-accessible, contact us at izw@baw.de. We will endeavour to find a solution that works for you.

Feedback and contact

Have you noticed any deficiencies regarding accessibility of our web content?
Or do you have any questions about accessibility?
If so, please contact us using the feedback form.

Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute
Central Services
Public relations section
Kußmaulstraße 17
76187 Karlsruhe, Germany

Enforcement procedures

Article 16 BGG requires an Arbitration Service working under the responsibility of the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Persons with Disabilities. The purpose of the Arbitration Service is to settle disputes arising between persons with disabilities and federal public authorities.

You can submit an application for an arbitration procedure when you are not satisfied with the answers provided by the contact mentioned above.
The arbitration procedure is free of charge. Consequently, there is no need to call upon legal counsel.

The complete information on the arbitration procedure is available at the Arbitration Service website. It explains how the arbitration procedure works and how an application for arbitration is submitted. Applications can also be made in German sign language or easy-to-understand language.

You can contact the Arbitration Service as follows:

Schlichtungsstelle nach dem Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz
bei dem Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für die Belange von Menschen mit Behinderungen
Mauerstraße 53
10117 Berlin, Germany

Phone: +49 (0)30 18 527-2805
Fax: +49 (0)30 18 527-2901
Email: info@schlichtungsstelle-bgg.de
Internet: www.schlichtungsstelle-bgg.de