Accessibility Statement

1. Our commitment

Knowledge Commons is built for civil society — including the many readers and contributors who use assistive technology. We are committed to making the platform usable by as many people as possible, regardless of ability, device, or connection.

This statement is published in accordance with the EU Web Accessibility Directive (Directive 2016/2102) and the German Federal Act on Equal Opportunities for Disabled Persons (BGG).

2. Conformance status

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA, the standard referenced by EN 301 549 and the EU directive.

3. How we tested

The most recent accessibility evaluation was carried out in November 2025 by the Berlin-based accessibility consultancy BIK BITV-Test. The evaluation combined:

• Automated testing using axe-core and Pa11y across the 30 most-visited templates;
• Manual expert review against WCAG 2.1 AA, including keyboard-only navigation;
• Assistive-technology testing with NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver;
• User testing with five people with lived experience of visual, motor, and cognitive disability.

4. Known accessibility gaps

The following areas do not yet fully meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Each has a remediation plan with an owner and a target date.

5. Accessibility features

• Full keyboard navigation, with a visible focus indicator and "skip to content" link on every page;
• Semantic landmarks (header, nav, main, footer) and a single primary h1 per page;
• Text resizing up to 200% without loss of content or functionality;
• Sufficient colour contrast (≥ 4.5:1 for body text);
• Reader mode for long-form articles, with adjustable type size and line spacing;
• Multilingual interface (currently English, German, French; more on the roadmap);
• Forms with explicit labels, error messages tied to fields, and no time limits on submission.

6. Feedback and contact

If you encounter a barrier on the platform — anything that prevents you from accessing content or completing a task — please tell us.

7. Enforcement procedure

If you contact us about an accessibility barrier and you are not satisfied with our response, you may refer the matter to the Berlin State Commissioner for People with Disabilities.