Accessibility Notice

The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG) aims to make its websites accessible in accordance with the national legislation for the implementation of EU Directive 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

This Accessibility notice applies to all websites published by KUG.

Accessibility conformance level
Due to the following incompatibilities and exceptions, KUG's websites meet part of the requirements for conformance level AA of the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - WCAG 2.1".

Non-accessible content
The contents listed below do not meet accessibility requirements for the following reasons:

a. Incompatibility with WCAG 2.1
The use of text and background colors selected in accordance with CI specifications only partially meet the required level of contrast. We will aim to increase color contrast as much as possible as part of our next updates.

PDF and Office documents made available on the websites are only partially accessible. This will be improved through a standardized document creation process and targeted training for our staff.

The format of the editorial content does not fully meet the requirements of the desired level of conformity. This will be improved by regularly offering training to the editors and providing documents on how to create accessible content.

Certain non-decorative images in the content are missing alternative text, which means that this information is not available for screen reader users. As a result, success criterion 1.1.1 of WCAG (non-text content) is not satisfied. We are always working to add alternative text to non-decorative images, and we inform our editors as part of their training and within the recommendations provided in our user guides that new and updated sites of this success criterion must meet this requirement.

b. Excessive burden
Converting websites whose underlying software only partially meets the desired level of conformity and whose development is not being furthered by KUG, and/or websites whose underlying software cannot enable a complete conversion, constitutes an excessive burden as defined by Article 5 of EU Directive 2016/2102.

Our videos are mostly hosted and published on the Phaidra, YouTube, and Vimeo platforms. We are unable to provide the required audio descriptions for some of these videos. As a result, criterion 1.2.5 of WCAG (non-text content) is not satisfied. We believe that rectifying this would constitute an excessive burden as defined by the accessibility regulations.

We plan to equip new content with the appropriate alternatives, as long as this does not constitute an excessive burden. For older content, which will no longer be updated, we will only provide alternatives if necessary.

c. The content does not fall within the scope of the applicable legislation
Text alternatives for video and audio media, which was published before September 23, 2020.
Live broadcasts of time-based media, like video or audio media. Online maps or map services, so long as the important navigational information in these maps is provided in an accessible manner.
Archived websites that exclusively contain content that is no longer actively necessary for administrative processes, and which have not been updated or worked on since September 23, 2019.

Certain PDF documents, especially older ones, are not accessible. For example, PDF documents may not be fully tagged, meaning they cannot or can only partially be read and used by screen readers users. As a result, criterion 4.1.2 of WCAG (non-text content) is not satisfied.

Content from third parties, which KUG has no influence over, are exempt from EU Directive 2016/2102. KUG cannot make any statements about this content's conformity with accessibility standards.

Creation of this accessibility notice
This notice was created on September 22, 2020.

The websites’ conformity with the WCAG 2.1 Guidelines was verified through self-directed tests by the central IT department and, at times, in collaboration with external professionals.

Feedback and contact information
The contents of our websites are continuously updated and expanded. Usability and accessibility are priorities for us. If you encounter any accessibility issues that prevent you from using our websites, please let us know. Please describe the problem in an e-mail to helpdesk@kug.ac.at and include the URL of the page in question.

Enforcement procedures
If you are not satisfied with the answers you receive from the point of contact listed above, you can file a complaint with the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). The FFG records complaints electronically, through this form: www.ffg.at/form/kontaktformular-beschwerdestelle.

The FFG will evaluate your complaint to ascertain whether the issue constitutes a violation of the provisions of the Web Accessibility Directive, especially with regards to failure to uphold accessibility requirements, by the organization or an institution working on their behalf. If the complaint is justified, the FFG will make recommendations and propose measures for remedying the problem to the organization or the legal entity in question.

For more information about filing a complaint, please visit: www.ffg.at/barrierefreiheit/beschwerdestelle

In simple language
KUG wants to make its websites as accessible as possible. Having problems using one of our websites? Please send us a message at helpdesk@kug.ac.at. We'll be in touch.