Accessibility Statement
The St. Pölten UAS is committed to making its websites freely accessible in accordance with the Web Accessibility Act (Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz, WZG) as amended implementing the Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (Official Journal L 327 of 2 December 2016, page 1).
Status of conformance with the requirements
Based on the following incompatibilities and exceptions, this website is partly compatible with conformance level AA of the “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - WCAG 2.1", or the accepted European standard EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08).
Non-conforming content
The contents listed below are not freely accessible due to the following reasons:
a) Incompatibility with the accessibility regulations
Some of the videos integrated into the website lack subtitles, which makes the spoken content inaccessible for hearing-impaired users. This means that the WCAG success criterion 1.2.2 (prerecorded captions) is not met.
We are planning to gradually add subtitles to all videos. New videos will generally feature subtitles when they are published.
For the navigation via hashtags, the WCAG success criterion 1.3.1. (info and relationships) is not met. This criterion stipulates that drop-down menus (selection fields) should always have a description that is specific to the respective field. This is not necessarily the case so far. Furthermore, there is sometimes no top-level headline displayed, or the headlines are not in the correct order due to the modular structure of the website.
The WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 (contrast) is partially not yet fulfilled, either – a problem that is to be fixed soon.
So far, the WCAG success criterion 2.4.7 (focus visible) is also not met, which complicates navigation using the keyboard because the element in focus is not highlighted. This problem is to be solved shortly.
b) Disproportionate burden
Most of our videos are hosted by and published on the video platform YouTube. For some of these videos, it is not possible to make the required audio descriptions available, which means that the WCAG success criterion 1.2.5 (prerecorded audio description) is not fulfilled. It is our opinion that fixing this problem would result a disproportionate burden in terms of accessibility regulations.
c) The content does not fall within the scope of the applicable legal provisions
Many, largely older PDF files and Office documents are not freely accessible. For example, PDF documents are not tagged and therefore cannot be captured and used by screen reader users, or only insufficiently. This means that the WCAG success criterion 4.1.2 (name, role, value) is not fulfilled. For new PDF documents, we make sure to comply with this criterion.
Please let us know if you have difficulties with concrete texts. Upon request, we will prepare the content in barrier-free form and subsequently replace the documents or add accessible alternatives. When it comes to new documents, we will make an effort to provide them in barrier-free form according to WCAG 2.1 and in conformity with PDF/UA. Documents that are not freely accessible, for example print versions, will be marked as such.
Live videos do not feature subtitles, which is in contrast with the WCAG success criterion 1.2.4 (live captions). Live videos are exempt from the Directive (EU) 2016/2102.
We are not planning to provide subtitles for live videos.
Third-party content such as studies or presentation material of external lecturers that are beyond the sphere of influence of the St. Pölten UAS are exempt from the Directive (EU) 2016/2102. The St. Pölten UAS can make no statements concerning this type of third-party content when it comes to its compatibility with accessibility regulations.
Formulation of this accessibility statement
This statement was issued on 11 September 2020.
The assessment of the website’s compatibility with the WZG implementing the provisions of the Directive (EU) 2016/2102 was carried out in the form of a self-test in accordance with WCAG 2.0 for conformance level AA. As samples, we used the homepage, several overview pages, a project site, and a search result. Individual page contents are regularly reviewed by the website team when publishing new content.
This statement was last updated on 23 September 2020.
Feedback and contact data
The contents and services on this website are continually improved, replaced and expanded. We attach great importance to usability and accessibility.
If you notice any barriers that impede your use of our website – problems not described it this statements, or shortcomings in terms of the compliance with the accessibility requirements – we kindly ask you to point them out to us by e-mail. We will process your request and respond in due course.
For requests or suggestions, please send us an e-mail with the subject “Barrierefreiheit” (accessibility) at website@fhstp.ac.at describing the problem and indicating the URL(s) of the site or document in question.
Enforcement procedure
In case of an unsatisfactory response from the point of contact indicated above, you have the option to file a complaint with the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) using their electronic contact form.
Contact form of the complaints office
The FFG examines whether the complaint refers to breaches of the provisions laid down in the Web Accessibility Act (ZWG), especially shortcomings in meeting the accessibility requirement, on the part of the federal government or an associated institution.
If the complaint is justified, the FFG is to issue recommendations for action to the federal government or the affected legal entity, and to suggest measures that serve to remedy the deficiencies.