Accessibility Statement

This website is managed by the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat on behalf of the Trilateral Cooperation on the Protection of the Wadden Sea. We make every effort to ensure that the website is accessible in correspondence with the Lower Saxony Disability Equality Act (NBGG) as well as the accessibility requirements according to § 3 paragraphs 1 to 4 and § 4 of the German federal Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV) to realise the EU Directive 2016/2102.

This statement on digital accessibility applies to content published on the domain: ‘https://www.waddensea-worldheritage.org’ and its subdomains, create in the content management system Drupal.

 

Compliance status

The review of compliance with the requirements is based on a self-evaluation carried out on 20.05.2025 by the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat.

Based on the review, the website/mobile application is partially compliant with the aforementioned requirements due to the incompatibilities listed under section ‘Non-accessible content’ below.

 

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the Website of Wadden Sea World Heritage and the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation and subdomains. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers:

Common Wadden Sea Secretariat
Virchowstrasse 1
D-26382 Wilhelmshaven
Telephone: +49 4421 9108 0
Email: info@waddensea-secretariat.org

 

Arbitration proceedings

If you are not satisfied with the answers you receive from the above-mentioned contact options, you can submit an application to the arbitration centre set up by the State Commissioner for People with Disabilities in Lower Saxony to initiate arbitration proceedings in accordance with the Lower Saxony Disability Equality Act (NBGG). The arbitration procedure is free of charge. No legal assistance is required.

You can contact the arbitration centre directly by phone: +49 511 120-4010 or email: schlichtungsstelle@ms.niedersachsen.de.

 

Preparation of this statement

This statement was prepared on 20 May 2025.

 

Non-accessible content

Despite our best efforts to ensure the accessibility of the Wadden Sea World Heritage website, we are aware of some limitations, which we are working to fix. Below is a description of known limitations and potential solutions. Please contact us if you encounter an issue not listed below.

Known limitations for the Wadden Sea World Heritage website and subdomains:

  1. Texts: Texts in simple language are available for the description of the Wadden Sea, its World Heritage status, the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation, and the navigation of the website. No further texts in simple language. The editors strive for clear comprehensibility in the wording of the texts.
  2. Translations: Not all pages are available in all four website languages (disproportionate burden). These include most news items and resources as well as all sub-domains. All pages are available in the working language of the Trilateral Cooperation – English.
  3. Missing alternative texts: For some visual elements a corresponding alternative text is missing. In the future, an alternative text will be entered for visual elements.
  4. Alternative texts language: Visual carry alternative texts only in English. We are not positioned to provide translations of alternative texts in all four website languages (disproportionate burden).
  5. Graphics with texts: On some pages there are graphics with text. The graphics / illustrations are mostly used to illustrate scientific processes, most of which are described in the text, but are generally aimed at a specialist audience with appropriate prior knowledge.
  6. Missing labels: Some fields/functions are not labelled/ do not have accessible descriptions, such as the search form on the home page. Where possible, these should subsequently be labelled.
  7. Audio description: Videos on this website do not have audio description. We are working on adding them to our videos.
  8. PDF: PDFs on the website are not accessible. When creating new PDFs, care is taken to ensure that they are accessible. This does not apply to documents and PDF files that have been made available to us by third parties and represent an additional offer. It does not apply to PDF content that is also available as an HTML alternative, such as the thematic reports of the Wadden Sea Quality Status Report.
  9. External links open without warning: Some links open a new window (or tab) without warning. We plan to fix this by end of 2025.
  10. Links: When a download link refers to another web page, it opens a new window or tab. We plan to fix this by end of 2025.
  11. Some text contrasts are insufficient. We plan to fix this by end of 2025.