Knowledge Commons

A blocked website can look deceptively small from the outside: one button that will not receive keyboard focus, one form that rejects a valid answer, one video without captions. From the user side, that small fault can mean no appointment, no ticket, no payment, no application, no participation.

The barrier is the problem, not your body, device, or access need. Digital accessibility is not a bonus layer for patient users. It is part of whether a service works.

This article is general information, not legal advice for a specific case. In Germany and the EU, public bodies and many services have accessibility duties, and the European Accessibility Act is implemented in Germany through the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, often shortened to BFSG. The useful first step is still practical: make the failure reproducible, ask for an accessible route, and preserve enough evidence that the service cannot dismiss it as a private technical preference.

Master checklist

Write down the exact task you were trying to complete.
Record the device, browser, operating system, app version, and assistive technology you used.
Note the date, time, page or screen name, and the step where access failed.
Capture the barrier with screenshots, a short screen recording, copied error text, or a written description.
Try one reasonable comparison only if you have energy, such as another browser or another input method. Do not turn yourself into unpaid quality assurance.
Save any consequence: missed deadline, failed booking, extra fee, lost discount, blocked account, or need to ask another person for private help.
Report the failure in writing and ask for an accessible alternative, not just a fix “someday.”
If the service is essential or time-sensitive, use another route in parallel while keeping the complaint alive.
If the response ignores accessibility, escalate to a complaint office, supervisory body, contracting authority, consumer advice route, or disability advice route appropriate to the service type.

How to preserve digital evidence in a technically careful way is its own craft. Digital Dignity Lab has a detailed guide on screenshots, timestamps, URLs, exports, and secure storage. Here we focus on accessibility evidence: what failed, under which access conditions, and how to make the barrier visible to people who were not there.

Describe the blocked task, not only the broken feature

Start with the real-world purpose. “The calendar widget is inaccessible” is useful. “I could not book a Bürgeramt appointment because the calendar widget could not be operated with a keyboard” is stronger. It shows that the problem is not cosmetic.

Use a simple sequence:

I tried to do this task.
I used this access method.
The service failed at this step.
The result was this practical exclusion.
I need this accessible alternative or repair.

For example: “I tried to renew my subscription in the app. I use screen magnification and increased text size. On the payment screen, the price and confirmation button overlapped, and the button could not be activated. I could not complete payment before the deadline. Please provide an accessible payment route and confirm that I will not lose the renewal price because of this barrier.”

This framing keeps the responsibility where it belongs. You are not asking for a personal favor. You are reporting a service failure.

Record your access context

Digital teams often ask, “Which device were you using?” That question can be legitimate, but it can also become a way to imply that the user caused the problem. Give enough context to reproduce the failure without accepting blame.

Useful details include:

device type, such as phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop;
operating system and version if you know it;
browser or app version;
input method, such as keyboard only, switch control, voice control, touch, stylus, or mouse;
assistive technology, such as a screen reader, screen magnifier, captions, hearing aids connected by Bluetooth, high contrast mode, reduced motion settings, or text-to-speech;
display settings, such as zoom level, enlarged text, dark mode, or contrast mode;
language setting, if translation or multilingual content affects the problem.

You do not need to disclose a diagnosis. “I navigate by keyboard and screen reader” is usually more useful than “I am blind.” “I need captions to understand video content” is more useful than a medical explanation. Access needs are enough.

Capture the failure in a way others can replay

For many accessibility failures, reproduction steps matter more than a dramatic screenshot. Write them like instructions:

Open the service.
Go to “Apply.”
Move through the form with the Tab key.
Focus disappears after “Date of birth.”
The “Continue” button cannot be reached.

This is especially important for keyboard traps, missing focus indicators, forms that are not labelled for screen readers, menus that close too quickly, and authentication flows that impose time limits.

A short screen recording can help when the barrier is dynamic. If recording exposes personal data, record a test route with no sensitive details if possible, or cover private information. If you cannot record, a written step list is still evidence.

For screen-reader barriers, include the words the reader announces, or say that it announces nothing useful. Examples: “Button, button, button” with no labels; “edit text” without a question; an error message that appears visually but is not announced.

For contrast and magnification barriers, a screenshot can show text disappearing, buttons overlapping, or pale text on a pale background. For captions, record the video title, the missing or inaccurate caption state, and whether the information is also provided in text.

Name common barriers precisely

Precise language helps complaint handlers route the issue. You do not need expert vocabulary, but these terms are useful:

Keyboard access: Can the whole task be completed without a mouse or touch gesture?
Focus indicator: Can you see where you are on the page when using Tab or another keyboard command?
Screen-reader labels: Do fields, buttons, headings, and errors have meaningful names?
Contrast: Is text readable against its background, including disabled buttons and warning text?
Text resizing and zoom: Does the layout still work when text is enlarged or the page is zoomed?
Captions and transcripts: Is spoken information available to deaf and hard-of-hearing users?
Time limits: Does the service log you out, clear the form, or expire codes before you can complete the task?
Authentication: Does the login require a method you cannot use, such as a visual puzzle, inaccessible security code, or app-only confirmation?
Error recovery: Does the form explain what failed and let you correct it without starting over?

These barriers are design debt. They usually arise because access was not included in procurement, testing, release criteria, or support scripts.

Ask for an accessible alternative now

Many services answer accessibility reports with “we will forward this to IT.” Forwarding may be necessary, but it does not solve your immediate exclusion.

Ask for both tracks:

“Please forward this accessibility defect for repair. Separately, I need an accessible way to complete the task by [date]. Please confirm how I can do this without extra cost, loss of priority, or disclosure of private information to an unnecessary third party.”

The alternative might be a human-assisted booking, a paper form, an email route, an accessible PDF, a phone appointment, more time, fee protection, or manual account verification. The right alternative depends on the task. It should not punish you for the provider’s inaccessible design.

If a workaround requires another person to read private medical, financial, legal, or family information, say so. Dependence is not a neutral workaround when privacy is lost.

Keep the consequence visible

Accessibility complaints are often treated as technical tickets. Add the consequence so the service understands the impact:

“I missed the application deadline.”
“I could not buy the reduced-price ticket.”
“The only alternative required a phone call, which is not accessible to me.”
“I had to ask a colleague to handle private account data.”
“The timeout repeatedly erased the form after I had entered disability-related information.”

If you paid more because the accessible route failed, keep receipts and confirmation messages. If you lost a place, appointment, or discount, save that notice. Compensation is more plausible when the loss is concrete, but even without compensation, consequence evidence helps show that the barrier is not minor.

Who is responsible?

Responsibility usually sits with the organization offering the service to the public, customers, applicants, passengers, patients, students, or residents. A provider may use an outside software vendor, but that does not make the user responsible for negotiating with the vendor.

For public bodies, digital accessibility is part of equal access to administration. For many products and services, the European Accessibility Act and the German BFSG point in the same direction: accessibility must be built into goods and services, not patched only after disabled people are blocked. SGB IX and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also support the broader principle that disabled people must be able to participate equally.

In a complaint, avoid getting pulled into a debate about internal contracts. You can write: “I am contacting you because your organization offers this service and I was unable to use it. If a contractor maintains the platform, please route this internally and keep me informed.”

When the first response dismisses you

Common dismissals include “try another browser,” “clear your cache,” “we have had no other complaints,” or “the site meets our standards.” Sometimes those steps are harmless. Sometimes they are a wall.

Reply with the record:

“I have already described the access method and reproduction steps. The issue prevents keyboard/screen-reader/caption/contrast access to an essential task. Please treat this as an accessibility complaint, not a general user-support question. I still need an accessible route to complete the task.”

If they claim nobody else complained, answer plainly: “Low complaint volume does not show accessibility. Many disabled users leave when a service blocks them.”

Escalation depends on the service. Options may include an internal complaints office, disability representative, data protection or consumer advice route where relevant, procurement or contracting authority, ombuds office, or specialist legal advice. For a general legal assessment, Justice Access Centre is the better lane. For digital evidence handling beyond the accessibility report itself, Digital Dignity Lab is the hand-off.

End with what you need next: a working route, deadline protection, fee correction, written answer, and repair plan. The body is not the problem. The blocked service is unfinished work.