Accessibility

Statement

Status: March 19, 2026

The Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW) is committed to making its website accessible in accordance with the Federal Act on Barrier-Free Access to Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies (Web Accessibility Act – WZG), as amended, implementing Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 26, 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (OJ L 327, 2.12.2016, p. 1).

This accessibility statement applies to the website www.bfw.gv.at.

Tested (the entire website was tested):

Accessibility testing tools used and results after a comprehensive revision with regard to WCAG 2.1 AA:

QualWeb

(ACT Rules + WCAG Techniques, A/AA)
All pages and all website extensions were tested in full
✅ 0 Failures

Axe (axe™)

WCAG2A/2AA: 50 real WordPress pages (all templates, every post type, and all main menu pages)
✅ 0 Violations

Lighthouse

A full website audit resulted in 100/100 on all pages except 2 (2 exceptions = WCAG 2.2 / but false positives, therefore here as well ✅ 0 actual violations)

color.a11y.com/Contrast/

Manual tests were also carried out regarding navigation, focus, and contrast. Noticeable contrast weaknesses were additionally rechecked with the color.a11y Contrast Checker alongside the automated tools. Result with regard to WCAG 2.1 AA: ✅ 0 Violations

achecker.ca

Additional spot checks were also carried out here, all of which resulted in ✅ 0 Violations.

1. Non-accessible content

1.1 Conformance status

The website www.bfw.gv.at fully conforms to the requirements of the Web Accessibility Directive (EU) 2016/2102 in conjunction with WCAG 2.1, Conformance Level AA.

All tested pages and templates meet all WCAG 2.1 success criteria at Levels A and AA. The remaining limitations described below relate exclusively to the voluntary AAA level (going beyond the legal obligation), known tool misjudgments (false positives), and legacy editorial content (PDFs and h1-h6 heading structures in older posts).

1.2 Remaining limitations at AAA level (not required for AA)

1.2.1 Enhanced color contrast (WCAG 1.4.6 / QW-ACT-R76)

Affected: approx. 15 page templates and one post template (single posts)
Rule: QualWeb ACT-R76 – corresponds to WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.6 “Contrast (Enhanced)”, Conformance Level AAA
Description:
On some pages, text colors are used that do not achieve the enhanced contrast ratio of 7:1 (AAA requirement) in all areas. The minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 according to WCAG 1.4.3 (AA) is met on all affected pages. This limitation concerns only the optional AAA level and therefore does not constitute a conformance gap under WCAG 2.1 AA.

Legal relevance: The obligation under the Web Accessibility Directive (EU) 2016/2102 relates to WCAG 2.1 AA. This point is therefore not reportable.

1.2.2 Abbreviations without an <abbr> element on event detail pages (WCAG 3.1.4 / QW-WCAG-T7)

Affected: Individual event detail pages (generated by the third-party plugin Modern Events Calendar)
Rule: QualWeb WCAG-T7 – corresponds to WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 3.1.4 “Abbreviations”, Conformance Level AAA
Description:
On event detail pages, abbreviations (e.g. academic titles, technical terms) may appear without the HTML element <abbr title=”…”>, which would provide screen reader users with an expanded form. The content on these pages is generated fully automatically by the plugin; individual <abbr> markup would require deep intervention in the plugin or extensive manual post-processing of each entry.

For users without assistive technologies, all content is fully understandable; screen readers can also read the text content correctly.

Legal relevance: No conformance gap under WCAG 2.1 AA.

1.3 Limited findings of two testing tools (no actual barriers)

On two pages, the testing tool Google Lighthouse shows deductions from the maximum score of 100/100 which, after detailed analysis, were classified as technical misjudgments by the tool (false positives):

Page /fachinstitute/waldwachstum-waldbau-genetik/waldbau/ – Lighthouse 96/100

Lighthouse reports button/link target sizes as too small under the target-size rule.

Assessment: This rule corresponds to WCAG 2.5.8 “Target Size (Minimum)”, which is included exclusively in WCAG 2.2 (not WCAG 2.1). Direct measurements via browser dev tools showed an actual height of 26 px – meaning the minimum requirement of 24 × 24 px according to WCAG 2.5.8 is met. The discrepancy is caused by a known artifact of Lighthouse’s headless rendering environment for tel: and mailto: links.

Axe WCAG2A/WCAG2AA: 0 Violations on this page.

Conclusion: No action required under WCAG 2.1 AA. No actual barrier.

Page /gesellschaft-internationales/green-care-wald/ – Lighthouse 92/100

Lighthouse reports the color combination #8c6a0d (foreground) on #3f7381 (background) with a contrast ratio of 1.05:1.

Assessment: A review of all parent elements via window.getComputedStyle showed that all backgroundColor values are transparent (rgba(0,0,0,0)) and that the actual background is white (#ffffff). The actual contrast of #8c6a0d on white is approx. 4.77:1 and therefore meets WCAG 1.4.3 AA (minimum requirement: 4.5:1), and thus also WCAG 2.1 AA.

Lighthouse does not correctly traverse transparent backgrounds in its headless rendering environment; this is a known Lighthouse false positive. Axe WCAG2A/WCAG2AA (contrast rule isolated): 0 Violations on this page.

In addition, target-size (WCAG 2.5.8 / WCAG 2.2) is also reported here – likewise no action required under WCAG 2.1.

Conclusion: No actual barrier, no WCAG 2.1 AA conformance gap. In practice, these two pages, like all the others, should therefore also achieve an ideal Lighthouse score of 100.

1.4 Older PDFs and legacy editorial content

For older PDF documents that were published on www.bfw.gv.at before the systematic accessibility review, as well as for editorial posts from earlier periods, full compliance with all WCAG 2.1 AA criteria cannot be guaranteed. This particularly concerns the correct order and hierarchy of headings (heading order), which may deviate from the specification in some older posts.

In older posts, heading sequences may occasionally not strictly follow h1-h6 order and may also appear unordered; secondly, older PDFs may still be included there. Older PDFs are generally exempt because, due to the large number of older PDFs, revision is not possible or not economically reasonable.

All administrators and editors of BFW have been explicitly instructed to comply with WCAG 2.1 AA requirements when creating future content. Newly created posts, pages, and uploaded documents should therefore be fully conformant. Older content will also be updated for accessibility during its next substantive revision.

1.5 External content / third-party systems

Affected: Page /waldwissen-forschung/bfw-projektdatenbank/
An embedded external iframe (bfw.ac.at/rz/pip.startseite, project database) lies outside the direct sphere of influence of the BFW website (cross-origin third-party system). Content and functionality of this embedded system may in some areas deviate from the accessibility standards of the main website. The iframe itself is correctly marked up with a descriptive title attribute (WCAG 4.1.2 AA).

1.6 Issues resolved during the 2026 accessibility audit

As part of a comprehensive technical review and revision, the following issues were identified and fully resolved:

*) WCAG 2.5.8 is included exclusively in WCAG 2.2 and is not part of the legal WCAG 2.1 AA obligation. The measure was implemented voluntarily as a best practice.

2. Preparation of this accessibility statement

2.1 Assessment methodology

The accessibility audit was carried out by the Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW) as a self-assessment. No external certificate was requested; the review was conducted independently through internal technical testing using established testing tools, as well as manual verification and external IT and web experts from subsolutions.newmedia.

2.2 Testing tools used

2.3 Scope of the audit

The audit covered all pages and content of www.bfw.gv.at, including:

The audit was carried out locally (staging environment) and, for verification purposes, also on the live environment www.bfw.gv.at.

2.4 Date of the last substantive update of this statement

March 19, 2026

3. Further steps to improve accessibility

The Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW) considers digital accessibility an ongoing task and has initiated the following measures to ensure and further improve accessibility in a sustainable manner:

3.1 Editorial quality assurance for new content

All administrators and editors of www.bfw.gv.at have been instructed to comply with WCAG 2.1 AA requirements when creating new posts, pages, and documents. Particular emphasis is placed on:

3.2 Revision of legacy content

Older posts and documents published before the systematic accessibility review will be updated for accessibility during their next substantive revision as part of regular maintenance. Priority review is planned for content that is accessed particularly frequently.

3.3 Improvement of the contrast level to AAA standard (voluntary)

On approx. 15 page templates and one post template, color combinations are used that meet the WCAG 2.1 AA minimum contrast ratio (4.5:1) but do not in all areas achieve the optional AAA value (7:1 according to WCAG 1.4.6). As part of the ongoing visual development of the website, BFW is examining whether a gradual move toward AAA contrast values is possible without impairing the visual identity of the site.

3.4 Review and markup of abbreviations (voluntary, AAA)

On event detail pages, abbreviations are output by the third-party plugin used (Modern Events Calendar) without <abbr> markup (WCAG 3.1.4, Level AAA). BFW is examining whether a technical solution can be developed at plugin or theme level to enable automatic or manual markup of abbreviations in the future.

3.5 Ongoing quality assurance during further development

With every significant technical enhancement of www.bfw.gv.at (new templates, structural changes, plugin updates), accessibility audits are carried out as an integral part of the development and approval process. The audit basis includes QualWeb (ACT Rules + WCAG Techniques), Axe, and Google Lighthouse, supplemented by manual spot checks.

3.6 Accessible PDFs

Newly uploaded PDF documents should comply with the requirements of WCAG 2.1 and/or the PDF/UA standard. For older archived documents, a risk-based prioritization approach is applied: documents with high access frequency or particular relevance to the public are prioritized for revision.

This statement applies to the website https://www.bfw.gv.at (Austrian Research Centre for Forests – BFW).
Created: March 18, 2026 · Last updated: March 18, 2026

4. Feedback and contact details

The offers and services on this website are continuously being improved, replaced, and expanded. Usability and accessibility are of great importance to us.

If you notice barriers that hinder you in using our website – problems that are not described in this statement, or deficiencies regarding compliance with accessibility requirements – please let us know by email. We will review your request and contact you as soon as possible.

Please describe the problem as precisely as possible and always provide the URL(s) of the affected webpage or document.

4.1 Contact

Please send all messages and suggestions directly to the webmaster of this website or the BFW Press Office.

4.2 Enforcement procedure

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive via the contact option above, you may submit a complaint to the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). The FFG accepts complaints electronically via the contact form on the FFG website.

Contact form of the complaints office

These complaints are examined by the FFG to determine whether they relate to violations of the provisions of the Web Accessibility Act, in particular deficiencies in compliance with accessibility requirements, by the federal government or an institution attributable to it.

If the complaint is justified, the FFG must propose recommendations and measures to the federal government or the relevant legal entities in order to remedy the deficiencies concerned.

Further information on the complaints procedure