Good hospital practice

Declaration on accessibility

• goodhospitalpractice.com
• 19. January 2025

Compliance status

We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to everyone, and strive to provide a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance or ability.

To achieve this, we adhere as strictly as possible to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a variety of disabilities. By adhering to these guidelines, we ensure that the website is accessible to all people: the blind, people with motor impairments, visual impairments, cognitive disabilities and more.

This website uses various technologies to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We use an accessible interface that allows people with certain disabilities to customize the user interface (UI) of the website and adapt it to their personal needs.

In addition, the website uses an AI-based application that runs in the background and constantly optimizes accessibility. This application corrects the HTML code of the website and adapts its functionality and behavior to the screen readers used by blind users and to the keyboard functions used by people with motor impairments.

If you notice a malfunction or have suggestions for improvement, we look forward to hearing from you. You can contact the website operators by e-mail at upaschen@gutehospitalpraxis.de.

Screen reader and keyboard navigation

Our website uses Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) attribute technology and various behavioral modifications to ensure that blind users accessing the website with screen readers can read, understand and use the features of the website. Once a user with a screen reader accesses your website, they are immediately prompted to enter the screen reader profile so that they can browse and operate your website effectively. Here's how our website meets some of the key requirements of screen readers, along with screenshots of sample code:

1. Screen reader optimization: We run a background process that learns the components of the website from top to bottom to ensure continuous compliance even when the website is updated. In this process, we provide meaningful data to screen readers using the ARIA attribute set. For example, we provide accurate form labels, descriptions for executable icons (social media icons, search icons, shopping cart icons, etc.), validation instructions for form inputs, element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogs (popups), and others. In addition, the background process scans all images on the website and provides an accurate and meaningful image object-based description as an ALT tag (alternative text) for images that are not described. It also extracts text embedded in the image using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. To activate the screen reader adaptations at any time, users simply need to press the Alt+1 key combination. Screen reader users will also receive automatic prompts to activate screen reader mode as soon as they enter the website. These customizations are compatible with all major screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
2. Optimization of keyboard navigation: The background process also adapts the HTML code of the website and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable via the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate drop-down menus with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links with the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements with the arrow keys and fill them in with the space bar or Enter key. In addition, keyboard users will find menus for quick navigation and skipping content available at any time by clicking Alt+1 or as the first elements of the website when navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered pop-ups by moving the keyboard focus to them as soon as they appear and not allowing the focus to wander outside of them. Users can also use keyboard shortcuts such as "M" (menus), "H" (headings), "F" (forms), "B" (buttons) and "G" (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Disability profiles supported on our website

• Epilepsy-safe mode: This profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures caused by flashing or flashing animations and risky color combinations.
• Mode for the visually impaired: This mode adapts the website to the needs of users with visual impairments, such as failing eyesight, tunnel vision, cataracts, glaucoma and others.
• Mode for cognitive disabilities: This mode offers various assistance options that help users with cognitive impairments such as dyslexia, autism, stroke and others to focus more easily on the essential elements of the website.
• ADHD-friendly mode: This mode helps users with ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse and focus on the most important elements of the website more easily, while significantly reducing distractions.
• Blindness mode: This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and TalkBack. A screen reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
• Keyboard navigation profile (motor impaired): This profile enables people with motor impairments to operate the website using the Tab key, Shift+Tab key and the Enter key. Users can also use keyboard shortcuts such as "M" (menus), "H" (headings), "F" (forms), "B" (buttons) and "G" (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Additional adjustments to the user interface, design and readability

1. Font customizations - Users can increase and decrease the font size, change the font family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment and line height and much more.
2. Color adjustments - Users can select different color contrast profiles, such as light, dark, inverted and monochrome. In addition, users can swap the color schemes of titles, texts and backgrounds with over seven different color options.
3. Animations - People with epilepsy can pause all running animations with one click. Animations controlled via the user interface include videos, GIFs and CSS blink transitions.
4. Highlighting content - Users can highlight important elements such as links and headings. You can also specify that only focused elements or elements touched with the mouse are highlighted.
5. Mute Audio - Users with hearing aids may experience headaches or other problems due to automatic audio playback. This option allows users to mute the entire website immediately.
6. Cognitive disorders - We use a search engine linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary so that people with cognitive impairments can decipher the meaning of phrases, initials, slang and other terms.
7. Additional functions - We offer users the option of changing the color and size of the cursor, using a print mode, activating a virtual keyboard and many other functions.

Compatibility of browsers and supporting technologies

We want to support the widest possible range of browsers and supporting technologies so that our users can choose the tools that work best for them with as few restrictions as possible. That's why we've worked very hard to support all the major systems that make up over 95 % of user market share, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).

Notes, comments and feedback

Despite our best efforts to enable everyone to adapt the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of being made accessible, or for which there is no appropriate technical solution to make them accessible. Nevertheless, we are continuously improving our accessibility by adding, updating and improving options and features and developing and introducing new technologies. All of this is to achieve the optimal level of accessibility and to keep up with technological progress. If you have any questions, please contact upaschen@gutehospitalpraxis.de