Accessibility

The Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow (DI) is dedicated to making its websites and apps accessible in accordance with the Sächsische Inklusionsgesetz (Saxon Inclusion Law, SächsInklusG) and Barrierefreie-Websites-Gesetz (Accessible Websites Law, BfWebG) in conjunction with the Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung (Decree on Accessible Information Technology, BITV 2.0). The BfWebG is augmented by the Barrierefreie-Websites-Verordnung (Decree on Accessible Websites, BfWebVO). These laws have been formulated in accordance with Directive (EU) 2016/2102.

This declaration concerning accessibility applies to www.dubnow.de

The Current State of Accessibility

The basis for accessibility is given in the internationally applicable Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) on Conformance Level AA and European Norm EN 301 549, Version 3.2.1. PDF documents are additionally subject to the international standard PDF/UA-1.

According to the above-cited directives, the website www.dubnow.de is only partially accessible.

Non-accessible Contents

Usability of Cookie Settings

The cookie dialog includes interactive buttons that cannot be triggered solely through operation of the keyboard.

Aside from their visible captions, the interactive buttons in the cookie dialog include deviating alternative captions in English. This reduces their informative value, e.g. in screen reader mode, and reduces the voice control operability of the buttons.

Usability of the Main Navigation

The entries on the main menu are not operable by keyboard. The menu entries are accessible through linear reading (using the arrow keys) in screen reader mode and the corresponding submenu can be opened using the spacebar. The main navigation is entirely inoperable through pure use of the keyboard (tab key). This is true both for the desktop and mobile views.

Usability of the Accessibility Menu

The accessibility menu is not located behind the corresponding button in the tab and reading order, hampering its accessibility by keyboard and in screen reader mode.

The expansion of the menu is not recognizable in screen reader mode, while the accessibility functions themselves (high-contrast view and enlarged script) have only limited usability in screen reader mode.

Animated Contents

The homepage includes a carousel with automatic screen changes that can neither be paused nor deactivated. This limits the legibility of the contents and can have a distracting effect.

Jump Labels

Repeatedly occurring page areas, such as the navigation areas, are not clearly labeled, which hampers the navigation of jump labels in screen reader mode.

Semantics

The headers are already predominantly labeled as such. However, the heading levels currently in use do not accurately reflect the hierarchical structure of the page contents. This hampers comprehension of the structure of the contents as well as the navigation of the headers in screen reader mode.

English-language texts are not labeled as such. This may affect the readout of the texts in screen reader mode.

Alternative Texts for Images

A few images on the website are not accompanied by an (expressive) alternative text that conveys to blind people the contents of the image or, in the case of linked images, the destination of the link.

Scalability

The textual contents on the website cannot be enlarged without limitations. When using the enlargement function on the accessibility menu, some texts are not enlarged. On some pages, texts also overlap when using this function.

Mobile View 

In the mobile view, certain contents and functions go lost. The menu with the accessibility functions to adjust contrasts and type size is not available in the mobile view. Additionally, some passages in the mobile view overlap and text gets cut off, thus impairing readability.

Adjustable Display

When individually adjusting text spacing (line height, paragraph spacing, letter spacing, and word spacing), the text on some pages ends up overlapping, thus significantly impairing the legibility of the contents.

Contrasts

Some of the texts on the website are not contrasted clearly enough against the background. This is especially true for the website’s homepage, but also applies to individual texts in the high-contrast display that can be activated via the accessibility menu in the header.

Some of the graphic controls are also not contrasted sufficiently and are thus difficult to recognize.

Focus Design

When using keyboard controls, the current position of the keyboard focus is sometimes not recognizable, either because it is suppressed by the standard browser focus or because the focused elements are not visible or are covered by other contents.

Search Fields and Form Boxes

The visible labeling of search fields is insufficient as these are merely designed as placeholders that disappear when entering a search term. Aside from the global search field, this is especially applicable to the search fields for persons, publications, events, and courses.

In forms asking for user data, the purpose of the input fields is not programmatically defined. This impedes the automatic recognition and filling out of the form boxes.

PDF Documents 

The linked PDF documents are predominantly not accessible, e.g. due to the incorrect semantic structuring of the PDF contents (tagging), missing alternative texts for images, erroneous document settings, partially insufficient contrasts, or limitations in navigation.

Insufficient Accessibility due to Disproportionate Burden

The listed contents are not accessible for the following reasons:

• Due to numerous older contents and documents, capacities for a seamless accessible revision are sometimes lacking.
• If the required efforts are too great, appropriate comprises will have to be made (see Article 5 “Disproportionate Burden” of Directive (EU) 2016/2102).

We are committed to achieving the highest possible degree of accessibility and will continuously work to improve this within the framework of our technical and labor organizational means.

Non-accessible Contents beyond the Statutory Provisions
 

The following contents are currently not accessible, but are exempted from liability in accordance with Article 1 Paragraph 2 Line 1 of BfWebG in connection with Article 1 Paragraph 4 of EU-Directive 2016/2102:

• File downloads that were published before 23 September 2018 and are not used for active administrative processes (see § 9 Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz)
• Audio/video files that were published before 23 September 2020
• Live-streaming audio and video
• Maps of which the pertinent information is offered in an accessible alternative. For example, if a map is provided detailing access to the institute, an additional description of the route will be offered in text form
• Third-party contents to which contents can dynamically be added. For example: blog entries, adverts, and news reports from other sources. Third-party contents are out of your control and are not financed or developed by you.
• Archived areas that have not been updated since 23 September 2019. These include for example old research projects of which the information only continues to be displayed for documentation purposes.

Compilation of this Declaration

This declaration was compiled on 23 June 2025. We will continue to independently monitor the state of accessibility.

Feedback and Contact Details

If you notice shortcomings regarding accessibility on our website or if you require information on the non-accessible contents, you can contact us:

Dr. Julia Roos
E-mail: roos(at)dubnow.de
Telephone: +49 341 21 735 753

Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow
Goldschmidtstrasse 28
04103 Leipzig 

We will try to eliminate the shortcomings reported to us and/or to offer you non-accessible information in an accessible form.

Enforcement Procedure

You have used the contact details cited above to make a query regarding accessibility on our website. Should a satisfying solution not be found within an appropriate timeframe of four weeks, you may turn to the office of the State Plenipotentiary for Inclusion and Disabled People responsible for enforcement procedures (enforcement office) at the Saxon State Chancellery. The enforcement office supports extrajudicial dispute settlements in the event that conflicts arise between official institutions in Saxony and users of their websites and/or mobile applications. This mediation is free of charge. It is not necessary to engage a legal adviser.

Contact:

Durchsetzungsstelle
Geschäftsstelle des Landesbeauftragten für Inklusion der Menschen mit Behinderungen bei der Sächsischen Staatskanzlei

Postal address:
Archivstrasse 1
01097 Dresden

E-mail: durchsetzungsstelle(at)sk.sachsen.de
Website: https://www.durchsetzungsstelle.sachsen.de