Accessibility Statement

Compliance Status

We are continuously working to improve the accessibility of our website. The limitations listed below are known to us, and we are committed to addressing them step by step.

Improvements Since the Last Review

Since the review in August 2026 we have improved the following:

• The navigation menu opens as a modal dialog: keyboard focus stays inside the menu, the page behind it is inactive for assistive technologies, the Escape key closes the menu, and submenus report their state (aria-expanded)
• All pages can be used at widths from 320 to 1920 pixels without horizontal scrolling and without clipped content (German and English versions checked); long words wrap
• Click and tap targets are at least 24 × 24 pixels (WCAG 2.2, criterion 2.5.8), menu buttons 44 pixels
• Focus rings use two colours (light and dark), so they stay visible on light and dark surfaces
• With the operating system setting "Reduce motion", the background video on the home page is paused (the still image remains) and parallax effects are switched off
• Contrast improved: small print and column headings in the footer, labels on the legal pages (Legal Notice, Privacy Policy), the 404 page, and descriptive texts on digital.html and archiv.html
• The cookie notice is built consistently on all pages, with sufficient contrast and large buttons
• The cards for people on dauerausstellung.html use the native details/summary element and can therefore be operated by keyboard and screen reader
• Purely decorative images are hidden from screen readers (empty alternative text or aria-hidden)
• On digital.html the 3D model has a text alternative and can be rotated with mouse, touch and keyboard
• On kurbel.html the filter bar and the chronicler switch have accessible names; duplicate element IDs in the timeline were fixed
• Skip link added to sammlung-online.html; the column headings in the footer are marked up as level 2 headings in the document structure

Non-accessible Content

Interactive Canvas Elements

The light refraction simulator (cobbler's sphere) on the "Collection & Research" page is based on the HTML Canvas element. The glass flask simulation can be fully operated by keyboard (arrow keys) and reports status information to screen readers through an ARIA live region. However, the visual content of the simulation is not available as structured text, so a limitation remains for users who rely solely on screen readers.

• Affected: "Collection & Research" page (sammlung.html), section "Light Refraction Simulator"
• Requirement: WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content); keyboard operation (2.1.1) is met
• Planned remedy: Full textual description of the educational content as an alternative

Interactive Timeline (Zeitkurbel)

The interactive timeline on kurbel.html contains an animated timeline. The filter bar and buttons can be operated by keyboard and have accessible names. The animated crank element and further additional features, however, are not optimised for all assistive technologies.

• Affected: "Zeitkurbel" page (kurbel.html)
• Requirement: WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.1.1 (Keyboard)

Image Galleries and Photography

Some historical photographs in the gallery have only short, generic alternative texts. Detailed descriptive texts are being added progressively.

• Affected: Image galleries on ausstellung.html, sammlung.html, dauerausstellung.html
• Requirement: WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content)

Colour Contrast of Text on Photos and Accent Colours

Text placed directly on photos or videos (for example the header with the navigation above the cover images, and headings in hero areas) does not consistently reach the 4.5:1 contrast ratio required by WCAG AA, depending on the image section. Some small labels in the yellow accent colour on teal reach about 3:1. Subtle labels and metadata in the dark lab environment of the cobbler's sphere section are purely decorative and do not convey any essential information.

• Affected: Hero areas of several pages; "Object in Focus" section on sammlung.html
• Requirement: WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast, Minimum)
• Planned remedy: step-by-step adjustment of the affected labels; contrast in the footer, on the legal pages and on the 404 page has already been improved

Heading Structure

On some pages heading levels are skipped (for example from h2 directly to h4). Sections remain reachable through their headings, but the hierarchy is not gap-free everywhere.

• Affected: among others aktuelles.html, besuch.html, kontakt.html, kurbel.html, vermittlung.html and several news and event pages
• Requirement: WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), 2.4.6 (Headings and Labels)
• Planned remedy: correct heading levels step by step

Background Videos

On the home page, on ausstellung.html and on sammlung.html, silent background videos play in a loop. They are purely decorative but have no pause button of their own. With the operating system setting "Reduce motion" they are paused or not loaded at all.

• Affected: index.html, ausstellung.html, sammlung.html
• Requirement: WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide)
• Planned remedy: pause button for background videos

Technical Information

This website is a static HTML/CSS/JavaScript site without a content management system. Content is managed editorially and updated regularly.

What is Accessible

• All pages include a skip link ("Skip to main content") that becomes visible when using the keyboard
• Page structure uses semantic HTML elements (header, main, nav, footer); every page has exactly one main heading (h1), one main element and a unique page title
• All images have an alternative text attribute; images with informational content have descriptive alternative texts
• All form fields have a label, all links and buttons have an accessible name (checked automatically for all pages on 10 October 2026)
• Navigation and form elements have ARIA labels
• Main navigation is reachable by keyboard; the open navigation menu keeps keyboard focus inside the menu and can be closed with Escape
• Dynamic content (quiz feedback, simulator status) uses aria-live regions
• All pages are correctly marked up in German or English (lang attribute); the language switch link is marked up inline with lang="en" so screen readers pronounce "EN" in English
• Browser zoom is not blocked; zooming to 200% does not significantly impair readability, and at a width of 320 pixels (roughly 400% zoom) content remains readable without horizontal scrolling
• Focus indicators are visible and use two colours (focus-visible); motion is reduced when the operating system requests it (prefers-reduced-motion), including the background video and parallax effects on the home page
• Colour contrast of main content largely meets WCAG AA requirements; exceptions are listed under "Non-accessible Content"

Feedback and Contact

Enforcement Procedure