In accordance with the i2010 strategy aiming to promote a global European information strategy, the Luxembourg government pursues the objective of making the State’s internet presence correspond to Priority level AA of the WCAG 2.0.

The basic framework (standard template) of the Renow referential,on which this site is based, corresponds to Priority level AA of the WCAG 2.0.

The entire site corresponds to Priority level AA. However, the correspondence of certain pages cannot be guaranteed, since these are excluded from quality controls for technical reasons. The list of pages excluded from the quality control can be found at the end of this declaration.

The accessibility of a site is, however, not a fixed state that can be considered as achieved once and for all: each publication of new contents and services enriching the site present potential risks that are constantly regenerated.

Regular accessibility controls are thus carried out for the site. The measures put in place are the following:

• We call on competent professionals to undertake regular “manual” accessibility assessments
• We carry out controls with the help of specialised software for all accessibility points that can be automated
• We have committed to putting resources in place to respond to each identified problem daily

Due to the unique characteristics of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its linguistic diversity, it is currently very difficult to adhere to the criteria of notification of language change, but we are making efforts to conform to it on a daily basis. We are constantly striving to improve the level of accessibility of this site. Contact the Renow team for any comments or suggestions about accessibiliy.

Definition of the concept of accessibility

According to Tim Berners-Lee, director of W3C and inventor of the World Wide Web, accessibility means to “ensure that the web is available and accessible to everyone, regardless of their hardware, software, network infrastructure, language, culture, location, or physical or mental ability”.

Accessibility rules

W3C, through WAI, has developed the recommendations WCAG 2.0. which define criteria and practical solutions to achieve the advocated accessibility level.

The WCAG 2.0 are made up of 12 rules organised according to 4 fundamental principles:

• Principle 1 – Make the contents and services perceivable:
  • Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
  • Provide alternatives for time-based media.
  • Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
  • Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
• Principle 2 – Make the contents and services operable:
  • Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
  • Provide users enough time to read and use content.
  • Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
  • Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.
• Principle 3 – Make the contents and services understandable:
  • Make text content readable and understandable.
  • Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
  • Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
• Principle 4 – Make the contents and services robust:
  • Maximise compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

Priority levels

These 12 rules are broken down into 61 checkpoints on 3 levels of priority:

• Level A: the site must conform to this checkpoint to allow a minimum level of access.
• Level Double-A or AA: if the site does not conform to this priority level, people with a disability will have difficulties accessing certain parts of it. This level is the reference objective applied for all websites.
• Level Triple-A or AAA: if the site conforms to this priority level, access will be facilitated. However, this level is not fundamental and cannot be achieved with all kinds of contents or services.

W3C norms

Respecting other technical norms issued by W3C fosters the striving for accessibility and provides other advantages in terms of interoperability and sustainability. This is why:

• The site is developed according to Transitional XHTML 1.0 Transitional technology and CSS2
• The XHTML code respects the XHTML 1.0 Transitional specification
• The CSS code respects the CSS2 specification

The use of certain CSS 3 properties could make style sheets unadapted to the specification of CSS 2 (the properties are shown as unknown but not erroneous). The compatibility with the most used web navigators is still maintained.