Declaration on Barrier-Free Accessibility

	Which stage of optimisation of access does the Nuremberg website offer?
	Measures for Optimisation of Access
	Present Limits to Barrier-Free Accessibility
	Test of Web Pages
	Contact

Which stage of optimisation of access does the Nuremberg website offer?

Since 2004, the City of Nuremberg has endeavoured to optimise access to its internet site. This declaration exclusively concerns the City of Nuremberg portal "Nürnberg online" called up via the domains www.nuernberg.de and www.nuremberg.de in German or English language versions. The pages were completely re-written in Spring 2006 and now fulfil the requirements of audit AA to the greatest possible extent. The city department responsible for editorial content is the City of Nuremberg Press and Information Office.

In addition, the various department and sections of Nuremberg Municipal Administration publish numerous web services on sub-domains of www.nuernberg.de and www.nuremberg.de . These about 80 independent web services have been available on the web since 1999 and will be improved to follow the requirements on barrier-free internet accessibility. Since 2004 we have safeguarded at least the requirements of audit A whenever pages were re-launched, and almost all newer services conform to audit AA.

Measures for Optimisation of Access

In the following we list the measures taken for improving access to the web pages presented here:

Text Equivalents:
All graphics, images and other non-text elements (audio files) on this website are given a short alternative background comment outlining their content. We are not presently supplying a detailed text representation of visual content.
Simulation of Colour-Blindness:
The website was tested with "Vischeck", a simulator for the three most frequent forms of colour blindness. The entire information on offer is completely legible for those whose vision is impaired due to colour blindness.
Structuring of Content:
All texts were carefully checked by editors, and content was clearly structured with the necessary logical structural elements, such as headlines, paragraphs, and lists.
Navigation:
The links on the navigation bars may be used both with the mouse and with the tab keys on the keyboard. Navigation elements are clearly distinguished from editorial content of the pages. The pages are structured in such a way that upon repeated reading by software, familiar concepts may be skipped. Navigation font size may be individually adapted.
Use of Cascading Style Sheets:
HTML pages consist of two elements: content (text, images, audio files) and a style sheet (font size and colour, page background. i.e. the layout). We file the default values for the visual format of an HTML page separately from the content (e.g. text) in a separate file. This separation of format and content has the advantage that users of an internet page may "switch off" the style sheet defined by the programmers, and use their own style sheet instead. A user suffering from red-green-blindness may thus create his/her own personal colour contrast and superimpose it on an HTML page. A user who is visually impaired may set font size to maximum in his/her browser. A blind user may get screen reader software to read aloud the content of a page without format information.
Table Structure and Frame Technology:
We make sure that we do not use complex table structures and only used a table as the basic structure for our layout. Whenever tables are needed to illustrate content, we strive to facilitate linear reading in this structure.
Frame technology was only used for presentation purposes, not for the content of relevant elements of this website, always in accordance with the rules of barrier-free access.
Individual Speed:
The web pages may be perused or read out aloud at the users' individual speed desired. When pages are called up, there are no time limits triggering automatic exit.
When data are filled in during online applications, the active session is interrupted after 30 minutes without action, e.g. if there were no data entered during the past 30 minutes.
Forms and Electronic Services:
The City of Nuremberg provides all online forms on a central server. The forms are available in PDF 1.5 format. In order to use the forms, you need the application Adobe Reader (version 6 or 7) which is available free of charge. The PDF forms are structured in such a way that users who are blind or whose vision is impaired can fill in the form without help. The field names are always to the left of the box for entering the required information, and linear reading is facilitated. All texts and explanations are worded for easy understanding, with the exception of legally binding forms which are provided in the same form for the entire Federal Republic or the Federal State.

Forms may be printed out or completed on the screen. You can save forms which were completed on the screen on your PC for future reference. If no signature is required, you may return completed forms online. For safeguarding the protection of data transmitted by you, these data are transmitted in encoded form.

Present Limits to Barrier-Free Accessibility

City maps and other maps, visual or acoustic information (e.g. audio files) as well as complex tables cannot presently be provided in barrier-free form.

Test of Web Pages

The following tests were carried out to check accessibility of our web pages:

The pages were tested with the following browsers and operating system.
The pages were checked for complete content and logical presentation of content with the Lynx Browser (text browser) and checked for valid HTML and CSS with W3C validators.
The website is suitable for representation with screen readers and was successfully tested for accessibility by blind readers using screen reader software.
The colour concept was checked for the requirements of persons suffering from colour-blindness, using the program Vischeck.
Navigation on the website is possible without graphic elements and without Java Script and without the use of a mouse, just via the tab keas on the keyboard.

Contact

If you have difficulties in accessing information contained on this website, in spite of the care taken in its preparation, please get in touch with the City of Nuremberg Online Office: