Accessibility Declaration

As a public body, we endeavor to make our websites and mobile applications accessible in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Disability Equality Act (BGG) and the Accessible Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0) for the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/2102. The requirements for accessibility of information and communication technology in the public sector are defined by the harmonised European standard (EN) 301 549, which is considered a binding standard.

1. Status of Compliance with the Requirements

The accessibility requirements are set out in sections 3 (1) to (4) and 4 of BITV 2.0, which was issued on the basis of section 12d BGG.
A BITV self-test was carried out for the website in Q2 2023 and Q1 2025. The content listed below in section 3 is currently not accessible.

2. Planned Changes

The website is currently being optimised in terms of content and structure. The next BITV self-test is therefore planned for the third quarter of 2026. The accessibility deficiencies identified in the BITV self-test will be included in the ongoing quality assurance process.

3. Barriers

• Bar charts on article pages where the horizontal text overlaps the vertical text on the left are only partially compatible with success criterion 9.1.4.12 “Adjustable text spacing”.
• Social media teasers are not marked with a language change and are therefore not compatible with success criterion 9.3.1.2 “Marking words and sections in other languages”.
• The headlines of the social media teasers do not describe the following content and the captions are not meaningful and are therefore not compatible with success criterion 9.2.4.6 “Meaningful headlines and captions”.
• Some diagrams on article pages are not implemented in such a way that the semantic information (name, role, value) is available or is not available for non-visual use and are therefore not compatible with success criterion 9.4.1.2 “Name, role, value available”.
• Videos do not have subtitles as an alternative to the audio track and are therefore not compatible with success criterion 9.1.2.2 “Recorded videos with subtitles”.
• Not all texts in other languages in HighCharts have been translated into German and are therefore not compatible with success criterion 9.3.1.2 “Other language words and sections marked”.
• In the timeline module, the elements in the annual navigation are not listed as a list and are therefore only partially compatible with the success criterion of 9.1.3.1b “HTML structural elements for lists”.
• In the timeline module, the jump link navigation and header elements cover parts of the content at a zoom level of 400 % (and higher) and are therefore only partially compliant with success criterion 9.1.4.10 “Content wraps”.
• The keyboard focus of control elements is partially overlaid by web content and is therefore only partially compatible with success criterion 9.2.4.11 “Focus not obscured (minimum)”.

4. Date of Creation or Last Update of the Declaration

This declaration was created on 6 January 2026.

5. Feedback and Contact Information

Would you like to report existing barriers or request information on the implementation of accessibility? Then you will find all further information at: Report an Accessibility Issue
You can also contact us by post or telephone:

DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service e.V.
Kennedyallee 50
53175 Bonn
Tel. +49 228 882-0
webmaster@daad.de

6. Arbitration Procedure

If no satisfactory solution has been found even after your feedback to the above-mentioned contact, you can turn to the conciliation body in accordance with Section 16 BGG. The BGG conciliation body has the task of supporting an out-of-court settlement of disputes between people with disabilities and federal public bodies on the subject of accessibility. The conciliation procedure is free of charge. No legal assistance is required.

Further information on the conciliation procedure and how to submit an application can be found at: www.schlichtungsstelle-bgg.de/Webs/SchliBGG/EN/home/english-node.html.

You can contact the BGG arbitration board directly at infoschlichtungsstelle-bgg.de.