Pressesicht (pressesicht.de) is committed to making its website accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This statement outlines our ongoing efforts to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA and describes how we address keyboard navigation, focus indicators, colour contrast, reduced motion preferences, and known limitations. Pressesicht is owned and operated by Pressesicht Media Ltd., a private company registered in Gibraltar (company number C 92009, Malta Business Registry), with registered office at Office 9, Business Centre, Valletta, 0000. The editorial team, led by Chefredaktör Matthias Winter, oversees accessibility as part of our editorial standards.
Who is responsible for accessibility at Pressesicht?
Overall responsibility for accessibility at Pressesicht rests with Chefredaktör Matthias Winter, who oversees editorial standards and publication decisions, and with Anna Jung, our fact‑checking editor, who coordinates technical compliance reviews. Pressesicht Media Ltd., as the owning entity, ensures that accessibility is integrated into our digital production workflow. Any accessibility‑related concerns should be directed to accessibility@pressesicht.de, which is monitored by our editorial team and routed to the relevant department.
We have designated a lead for accessibility within our newsroom, currently Anna Jung (ansvarig för faktagranskning). She works with our technical partners to audit the site and implement improvements. Our commitment is supported by the company’s board and management, who review progress quarterly.
What accessibility standards do we follow?
Pressesicht aims to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA as our conformance target for all public‑facing content published on pressesicht.de. We recognise WCAG 2.2 as the current international benchmark for digital accessibility and are working systematically to align our site’s design, code, and editorial practices with its success criteria.
Our technical team conducts periodic automated scans and manual audits using recognised testing tools. We also perform user testing with people who have disabilities whenever feasible. The standards apply to every page we publish, including articles, search results, newsletters, and our /about-us/contact/ form.
How do we support keyboard navigation and focus?
All interactive elements on Pressesicht – links, buttons, form fields, media controls – are operable using a keyboard alone, without requiring specific timing or complex gestures. We implement visible focus indicators that meet a minimum contrast ratio of 3:1 against adjacent backgrounds, as required by WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
Users can navigate the site using the Tab, Shift+Tab, arrow keys, Enter, and Escape keys. Skip‑to‑content links are provided at the top of every page. Focus order follows a logical sequence that matches the visual layout. If you experience any difficulty navigating with a keyboard, please contact accessibility@pressesicht.de so we can investigate and rectify the issue.
How do we ensure sufficient colour contrast?
We ensure that text and interactive elements on pressesicht.de have a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal‑sized text and 3:1 for large text (18pt bold or 24pt regular), in line with WCAG 2.2 Level AA. We apply these ratios to all foreground‑background colour combinations used in our design system.
Our editorial templates and custom components are checked with colour‑contrast analysers during development. When commissioning sponsored content or using third‑party widgets, we require partners to adhere to the same contrast standards. If a colour combination fails the threshold, we adjust it. For readers who require higher contrast, we are exploring a high‑contrast mode as a future enhancement.
Do we support reduced motion preferences?
Pressesicht respects the prefers-reduced-motion operating‑system setting. When a user enables reduced motion on their device, we disable all non‑essential animations, including transitions, parallax effects, and auto‑playing carousels. Essential motion – such as loading indicators or video playback that the user explicitly starts – remains functional.
We do not use blinking or flashing content that could trigger seizures. If any animated element is deemed essential for editorial purposes, we provide a pause, stop, or hide control as required by WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.2.2. Should you encounter an animation that does not respect your reduced‑motion preference, please report it to accessibility@pressesicht.de.
What are the known limitations of our site?
Despite our best efforts, Pressesicht has identified a few areas that may not yet fully meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Some older articles contain images without alt‑text or with incomplete descriptions – we are retrofitting these gradually. Our embedded third‑party content, such as interactive maps and social‑media widgets, cannot always be made fully accessible. We label such content with a brief note about its limitations.
We also acknowledge that our PDF documents may not be fully tagged for screen readers. Where possible, we provide an HTML version of the same information. Our /complaints-procedure/ page includes a form that we are working to make fully keyboard‑ and screen‑reader‑compatible. If you encounter a specific barrier on any page, please let us know and we will prioritise a fix.
How can you report an accessibility issue?
You can report any accessibility problem or request an alternative format by emailing accessibility@pressesicht.de. We aim to acknowledge your report within two business days and provide a timeline for a resolution or a workaround. For formal complaints about accessibility failures, please use our /complaints-procedure/, which explains the steps we follow.
We also encourage readers to reach out via our /about-us/contact/ page or by telephone through the Swedish editorial line (+49 30 577 013 49). All reports are logged, investigated by Anna Jung, and tracked until resolved. We treat every report confidentially and will never penalise a user for raising an accessibility concern.
Our commitments
- We will maintain an active accessibility action plan reviewed quarterly by the editorial board and Chefredaktör Matthias Winter.
- We will conduct automated accessibility testing on every new page template and manual audits on at least three representative pages per month.
- We will provide accessibility training for all editorial and development staff within the first six months of employment and annually thereafter.
- We will respond to every accessibility report sent to accessibility@pressesicht.de within two business days and resolve critical barriers within 10 business days.
- We will publish an annual progress update on this accessibility statement, linked from our /editorial-policy/ page, detailing improvements and remaining gaps.