Declaration on Accessibility – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences

GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences

Status: 26.09.2025

The Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We continue to improve access for all users and apply the corresponding standards on accessibility.

The Declaration on Accessibility is provided on this website: https://www.gfz.de

The GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences endeavors to enable barrier-free access to its website in accordance with the Brandenburg Equal Opportunities for Disabled Persons Act (BbgBGG) and the Brandenburg Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance (BbgBITV) in conjunction with the Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0).

Accessibility is based on the internationally valid Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) at conformance level AA and the European standard EN 301 549, version 3.1.1. In the case of PDF documents, the international standard PDF/UA is also observed.

The GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences deploys the following measures to ensure accessibility: 

• Accessibility shall become part of our mission statement.
• Accessibility shall become part of our internal guidelines
• Accessibility is already partly integrated into our procurement practices.
• An Accessibility Officer shall be appointed.
• Accessibility implementation tools for staff shall be made available on the intranet and integrated into staff meetings and our welcome culture.
• We involve people with disabilities in our user testing processes through our representative body for disabled persons.

Current Standards for Accessibility for the Website:
Unknown: The website is currently being audited by the Brandenburg Monitoring Body.

Current status of content conformity:
Unknown: The website is currently being audited by the Brandenburg Monitoring Body.

Despite our best efforts, users may experience some accessibility issues as listed here. 

Please contact us should you be aware of an issue not yet listed. 

Videos: Our videos currently do not have subtitles. 

PDF documents: Not all PDF documents comply with the accessibility requirements.

We are working on...

• Text alternatives for purely graphical, non-text content, such as images and picture symbols, as well as graphic elements supported by aria-label.
• Descriptive alternative text for photographs, portraits etc. in both English and German, as well as detailed full text alternatives for complex graphics and links to more extensive descriptions.
• Linking the entire teaser headlines, along with identifying the link target (where the link leads) and format in the link text, and for PDF links using CSS selectors based on the file extension. If the link contains all the necessary information, it will be left blank.
• German-language alternative text for controls. Implementing text alternatives as the alt attribute (Title elements are left blank for purely decorative graphics).
• Structuring content as lists, enumerations, and tiles using HTML (ul, li).
• Correct representation and nesting of headings from HTML structural elements.
• Preventing line breaks by enclosing paragraphs with p elements and defining spacing using CSS.
• Highlighting important text using the em or strong element, instead of the b element.
• Avoiding typographical characters for representing symbols or formatting text.
• Sufficient contrast through additional means (symbols, underlining, or bolding) of information so that it can be better distinguished (contrast ratio of 3:1).
• Meeting minimum contrast requirements in the contrast ratio of text color to background color, mouse hover, and graphic fonts with a minimum value of 4.5:1. Fonts smaller than 24 pixels will be bolded with a contrast ratio of 3:1 or 18.7 pixels.
• Enabling text magnification up to 200% without losing content or functionality – focus on the implementation of slider indicators.
• Facilitating scrolling direction – horizontal scrolling should only be used where it is contentually necessary (tables etc.) – person matches in the person search will wrap on a mobile device.
• Creating dynamic content containers that allow adjusting spacing between lines, paragraphs, characters, and words.
• Device-independent operation of the navigation and menu bar via keyboard and mouse, as well as a clear labeling of the role of buttons in the mobile view.
• Focus frames around visible controls (in the initial state) around the slider in the navigation.
• Indicating the states of interactive, complex elements and their components, as well as their action, which they perform – possibly with a slider alternative (previous/next switches with indicators) instead of a swipe function. Adding the aria-expanded attribute in the initial state of the elements, e.g., accordion elements, to output their current state.
• Labeling the breadcrumb navigation as lists with unique labels, such as "Page path".
• Reducing and correctly applying skip links, e.g., focusing on the "About Us" main menu skip function – with a maximum of three skip links to the main menu and focus on main content on the skip link (top link) instead of a screenshot. ! Using skip menu links to sidebars only if they exist to avoid jumping into, e.g., the footer.
• Maintaining focus on the modal image when opening content elements, instead of the background.
• Focusing on the outline of buttons to increase contrast and facilitate orientation.
• Removing Aria labels from the cookie banner, as these overwrite the link text.
• Fixing syntax errors – HTML validator.
• Adding additional status messages for visual cues (using role=status) about the success or failure of an action on a page.
• Recognizing user preferences regarding settings for font, background, etc., and inserting a background color or contour for elements to ensure contrast requirements are met even with custom settings.
• Embedding symbols as HTML content (search button for text, e.g., img- or svg-element).
• Using relative units for or fixed font sizes.

This website is designed to be compatible with the following browsers:

• All major browsers in their current version and their previous versions at least.
• Microsoft Edge
• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Safari

This website is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• NVDA – Screen Reader

The accessibility of this website depends on the following technologies for proper functioning:

• HTML
• WAI_ARIA
• CSS
• Javascript

The GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences has evaluated the accessibility of this website using the following method(s):

• External assessment: The website was evaluated by an external body (the Brandenburg Monitoring Body) which is not involved in the design and development process of the website.

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of this website. Please contact us under any of the following:

Telephone: 0331 6264 1041
E-Mail: barrierefreiheit@gfz.de

Corporate address: 
GFZ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Geoforschung
Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam

We will make every effort to respond within 10 working days.

Should you not be satisfied with the processing of your request or if you do not receive an answer from the above-mentioned contact options within a period of three weeks, you can submit a corresponding application to the Enforcement Agency of the State of Brandenburg, established at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Integration and Consumer Protection of the State of Brandenburg - State Commissioner for the Disabled, for a review of the regulations and measures mentioned in the Declaration on Accessibility. The enforcement body checks the legal validity of the application from the point of view of content and, in individual cases, orders a technical check for the website with the Monitoring Body for Accessibility of Web and Application Technologies of the State of Brandenburg.

The enforcement body in accordance with § 4 para. 3 BbgBITV has the task of settling disputes on the subject of accessibility in IT between persons with disabilities and public bodies in the State of Brandenburg. The enforcement procedure is free of charge. Legal assistance is not involved.

Contact:

Ministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Integration und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Brandenburg – Landesbehindertenbeauftragte | Durchsetzungsstelle
Henning-von-Tresckow-Straße 2-13, Haus S
14467 Potsdam
E-Mail: Durchsetzung.BIT@MSGIV.Brandenburg.de

GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam