Panoramic view of the Volksgarten and buildings along the Ringstrasse

Declaration of accessibility

This declaration of accessibility applies to the websites wien.info, b2b.wien.info, meeting.vienna.info and experts.wien.info.

Status of compatibility with the requirements

These websites comply to a high degree with conformance level AA of the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - WCAG 2.1" or with the applicable European standard EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08). Even beyond the legal requirements, the Vienna Tourist Board is very keen to make its digital products accessible. Below you will find information about incompatibilities and exceptions to conformance level AA of the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - WCAG 2.1" or with the applicable European standard EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08).

Accessible websites

The basic idea behind the internet is that of universal access. To facilitate proper access for people with sensory impairments, our websites have been created to the internationally applicable standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This also includes the guidelines for accessible internet (WCAG 2.1).

  • The text can at least be doubled in size. To do this, use the browser menu or the keyboard shortcut CRTL + "+".
  • The contrasts correspond to the values that are still easily legible for color-blind or older people. Individual settings are possible as required, such as reading with inverted colors for sensitivity to glare.
  • Videos with spoken text are offered with subtitles.
  • The website can be used without a graphic interface and without a mouse. It can be operated with assistive technologies, which are used for motor disabilities. Navigation support is available for keyboard and screenreader users, which translates digital content into Braille script and/or is read aloud with speech output. The integrated media player is fully keyboard controllable.
  • The website contents are structured so that they can also be understood by blind users with screenreader or Braille display. Amongst other things, reference is also made here to the WAI-ARIA standard currently under development.

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is only accessible with restrictions for the following reasons:

a) Incompatibility with the accessibility regulations

The websites of the Vienna Tourist Board are continually undergoing further development in order to be able to respond to the needs of guests and customers on an ongoing basis. In the development process, great attention is paid to barrier-free implementation from the outset with the involvement of experts, but experience has shown that deficiencies still occasionally arise during development. The Vienna Tourist Board endeavors to correct any deficiencies that arise as quickly as possible and to put them online during the ongoing process.

  1. Filter lists: The Vienna Tourist Board refers to filter lists as lists of elements that can be filtered and sorted using adjustable filter criteria (examples: venue finder, list of accommodations). Using the filters in the filter lists is currently not completely barrier-free. The filter lists are being revised both technically and visually and a barrier-free version will be made available by the end of 2024.
  2. The cookie banner can be left with VoiceOver if a YouTube video is embedded on the page (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2). A 2-click solution for playing videos is being worked on (implementation by the end of 2024) and this issue can probably be resolved. The cookie banner itself is a third-party tool, see section c).
  3. Slider elements, such as those used in image galleries on the websites, move in rare cases when the keyboard is used, so that the gallery is no longer displayed optimally. The problem is caused by an outdated library for the slider. An update of this library is scheduled for September 2024 and it can be assumed that this problem will no longer occur then. 
  4. For forms, mandatory fields are marked with "*" in the headline. The meaning of "*" is explained above the form. A better solution for displaying mandatory fields is currently being evaluated.
  5. No transcriptions for audio files are currently provided (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1), but excerpts from the content of the podcast are shown in the article. The first transcriptions for audio files have been created internally and the effort is currently being evaluated. Transcriptions for audio files are to be made available by the end of 2024.
  6. The heading hierarchy is sometimes irregular (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1), but from our point of view semantically correct and comprehensible. Since articles are created editorially and can contain many different components, under certain circumstances it can happen that heading hierarchies do not always make sense and therefore the structure of the article is more difficult to understand especially for users who use assistive technologies.
  7. Filter Widget: If something is selected in the filters in the filter widget (e.g. on the "Search for accommodation" page at the bottom), the screen reader announces the selection twice in a row (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1). A possible solution is being evaluated. If a filter is selected in the filter widget in the "Features" area and user-defined text spacing is activated, the "Features" label is cut off (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.4.12). A possible solution is being evaluated.
  8. The contrast of the headline on an image may not be always sufficient (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.1). Images can be darkened editorially if a headline is above them so that sufficient contrast can be guaranteed. Nevertheless, it can happen in everyday editorial work that the background image is not optimally selected or darkened, resulting in insufficient contrast. In the majority of such cases, however, only minimal areas of the font are affected, so that good readability is usually guaranteed.
  9. The alternative texts for images (this often affects images that are uploaded in bulk and then used in a gallery) are sometimes not optimally chosen (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1), as the editorial workflow is much faster here if more general alt texts are chosen that are valid for all images in the upload process. Nevertheless, awareness in this regard is still being promoted and information events are being offered to editors in order to provide good alternative texts for all pictures used on the websites. 
  10. Tables in rich text: There is currently no way to define a header for tables in rich text. The underlying rich text editor is currently being updated and a solution to this issue can be found afterwards.

b) Disproportionate burden

  1. Videos on the websites do not have audio description (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.5). They only contain automatically generated transcripts. The videos can be considered additional content because the information provided is also available in text form on the website. Audio description is not easily possible on YouTube. We believe that correcting this would represent a disproportionate burden in terms of the accessibility regulations.
  2. Videos usually come with editorially created subtitles. However, sometimes only automatically generated subtitles are offered, and the quality of these could be better (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.2.1). Possible improvement measures are currently being evaluated. We are happy to receive reports of videos with subtitles of insufficient quality (see the "Feedback and contact information" section below) so that these can be improved in a targeted manner. At this point in time, we think that manually revising all transcripts would represent a disproportionate burden in terms of accessibility regulations, particularly given the large amount of moving image content used.
  3. PDFs of print publications can be downloaded from the websites. They are not completely accessible. Here, too, content is presented that is also summarized directly on the website. For newer publications, we endeavor to implement accessibility requirements. For older publications, the effort represents a disproportionate burden in terms of the accessibility regulations.
  4. In individual cases, empty areas are focused on using arrow navigation (WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.3.2). Fixing this would be technically very complex, which is why we believe that fixing it would represent a disproportionate burden in terms of the accessibility regulations.

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

  • Documents (office application formats such as PDF and Office documents) published before September 23, 2018 are available for download on the website. They are not administratively relevant and therefore do not fall within the scope of the applicable legislation.
  • The videos made available on the platform are mostly hosted and published on Youtube.com. Videos published before September 23, 2020 do not fall within the scope of application.
  • Content and tools from third parties (examples: chat and contact tool, PowerBI dashboards) that are not within the sphere of influence of the Vienna Tourist Board are exempt from Directive (EU) 2016/2102. No statement can be made about the compatibility of this third-party content with the accessibility regulations. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that the Vienna Tourist Board endeavors to use a solution that is as accessible as possible for all third-party integrations and also informs manufacturers of products used of any accessibility deficiencies identified.

Creation of this declaration on accessibility

This declaration was created on September 23, 2020 and last updated on September 3rd, 2024.

Feedback and contact information

The offers and services on this website are continuously being improved, replaced and expanded. Operability and accessibility are important factors for us.

New page content is regularly checked by the web editorial team during publication.

If you come across barriers that hinder your use of our website – problems that are not described in the declaration, failures regarding compliance with the accessibility requirements – then please let us know by sending us an email.

We will check your inquiry and contact you at the earliest opportunity.

Please send all messages and suggestions to us at with the subject "Notification about a barrier on the website [please mention affected website]". Please describe the problem and list the URL(s) of the affected website or document.

Contact:
Wiener Tourismusverband
Invalidenstrasse 6, 1030 Vienna
Tel. +43-1-211 14-0
Email:

Enforcement procedure

If you are not happy with the response you receive from the contact shown above, you may lodge a complaint with the FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency with limited liability). The FFG will receive your message via the contact form of the complaints body by electronic means.

The complaints will be thoroughly checked by the FFG for whether they concern violations against the provisions of the Web Accessibility Act, in particular failure by the government or an institution attributable to it to comply with the accessibility requirements.

If the complaint is justified, the FFG must make recommendations for action to the government or the legal entities concerned and propose measures that serve to remedy the failures in question.

Further information on the complaints procedure:
https://www.ffg.at/barrierefreiheit/beschwerdestelle

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