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Usage with screen readers

In addition to a uniform and semantic page structure, the page indexing with the help of screen readers is facilitated by meaningful alternative texts for all images and the marking of abbreviations and acronyms.
The website can be easily operated using the keyboard and the use of jump links also benefits users of screen readers. Additional information is also provided by means of Accessible Rich Internet Applications.

Page title

Every website has its own page title, which reflects the content of the website. Users of screen readers can thus quickly see what to expect on the website and aquire an initial point of orientation.

Headlines

The website headings are clearly and logically structured and cover all contents of the website. Page areas and areas at the head and foot of the website are also provided with headings (structural navigation). Users of screen readers can jump from heading to heading or display a list of all headings. The page areas of the website can be reached quickly using the additional headings and give the user a good overview of how the website is structured and what information can be expected.
The navigation area is introduced by the level 1 (H1) heading, as is the content of the current page. All other areas start with the level 2 or 3 heading.

You can access the individual page areas by pressing the screen reader key for the headings H2 and H3 and the top of the page by pressing the key for the heading H1. You can get to the beginning of the content or navigation of the page by using the key for heading H2.

Landmarks

Furthermore, the page areas are introduced by WAI-ARIA landmarks, which inform you in which area of the website you are currently located. This makes orientation even easier for the blind and visually impaired, and the page structure is clearer.

Note to JAWS screen reader users: In JAWS version 9 and later, you can use the keyboard shortcut "Insert" [Ins] + "Control" [Ctrl] + [;] to display a list of all landmarks. You can also use the [;] key to navigate through the landmarks on the web page. In the screen reader NVDA this would be the [d] key.
WAI-ARIA is used to enhance the forms on the website to provide important information for screen readers in forms mode.

Page layout

All pages of this portal have the same structure:

  1. Skip links to directly reach selected areas of the current page
  2. List of keyboard shortcuts
  3. Quick search with a form to search the entire website
  4. Service navigation, including user help (information for personal page customisation, font sizes, etc.) and links to notes, content and help texts
  5. Content area with the actual contents of the respective page
  6. Supplementary information with the possibility of direct entry/quick access to certain areas of the portal
  7. Page footer with renewed list of linked keyboard shortcuts for better orientation for blind users at the bottom of the page.

Links

Links that open in a new window are marked with a corresponding note in the TITLE attribute. Users of screen readers have to first activate these additional functions to receive the note.

Forms

The forms provided on these pages are provided with extensive help, which makes it possible to use them in many different ways. Special attention is paid to aspects of accessibility.

Form properties in detail:

  • The input fields are labelled and can also be accessed with the tab key.
  • Mandatory fields are highlighted and additionally marked according to the WAI-ARIA concept.