In accordance with the i2010 strategy aiming to promote a global European information strategy, the Luxembourg government pursues the objective of making the state’s Internet presence comply with priority level AA of the WCAG 2.0.
The basic framework (standard template) of the Renow reference system, according to which this website was produced, complies with priority level AA of the WCAG 2.0.
The entire website complies with priority level AA. The compliance of certain pages cannot be guaranteed, however, since for technical reasons they are excluded from the quality control. The pages excluded from the quality control are listed at the end of this declaration.
Nonetheless, the accessibility of a website is not a static condition that can be considered achieved once and for all: each new publication of content and each newly added service present potential and constantly re-emerging risks.
The website is therefore subject to regular accessibility checks. The following measures are put in place:
- we call on competent professionals to carry out regular “manual” accessibility assessments,
- we carry out checks with the help of specialised software for all accessibility points that can be automated,
- we commit to putting in place the resources required to respond to any identified problem on a daily basis.
Due to the unique characteristics of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its linguistic diversity, the notification of language changes is currently a very difficult criterion to adhere to, but we make a daily commitment to comply with it. To support our efforts to continuously improve the level of accessibility of this website, please do not hesitate to contact the Renow team to share your comments and suggestions.
Definition of the concept of accessibility
According to Tim Berners-Lee, director of W3C and inventor of the World Wide Web, accessibility consists in making the Web and its services accessible to everyone, regardless of their hardware or software, their network infrastructure, their mother tongue, culture, geographical location, or their physical or mental ability.
Rules of accessibility
Via the WAI, the W3C has developed guidelines known as the WCAG 2.0, which define criteria and practical solutions to achieve the advocated accessibility level.
The WCAG 2.0 are made up of 12 rules, which are organised according to 4 fundamental principles:
Principle 1 – make the content and services perceivable:
- Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
- Provide alternatives for time-based media.
- Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
- Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
Principle 2 – make the content and services operable:
- Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
- Provide users enough time to read and use content.
- Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
- Provide ways to help users navigate, find content and determine where they are.
Principle 3 – make the content and services understandable:
- Make text content readable and understandable.
- Make web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
- Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
Principle 4 – make the content and services robust:
- Optimise compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.
Priority levels
These 12 rules are broken down into 61 checkpoints organised into 3 priority levels:
- Level A: the website must conform to this priority level to allow a minimum level of access.
- Level Double A or AA: if the website does not conform to this priority level, people with a disability will have difficulties accessing certain parts of it. This level is the reference objective applicable to all websites.
- Level Triple A or AAA: if the website conforms to this priority level, access will be facilitated. However, this level is not fundamental and cannot be achieved with all types of contents or services.
Technical standards
The respect of other technical standards issued among others by the W3C promotes the accessibility approach and provides additional benefits of interoperability and sustainability. This is why:
- The service has been developed according to HTML 5 technologies – the new tags enabling a better identification of the zones of a page and the programmable interfaces providing access to the advance functions of the browsers – developed by the WHATWG;
- Numerous CSS rules from the specifications of level 3 of the standard are used whenever they are supported so as to create visual effects without additional images and thus decrease the total weight of the pages.
Declaration of accessibility – Quality approach
In the context of the quality approach defined by Renow (Web Standardisation Reference System), a certificate of compliance is issued for each assessed website. This assessment is carried out on a sample of representative pages.
For the assessment of the CTIE intranet, no page was explicitly excluded for technological reasons when the sample was established.