The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) would like to give everyone the chance to inform themselves about PTB in general and about PTB’s research and service tasks in particular. This is why PTB has made its website largely accessible as far as possible and why it is making the most of all the possibilities offered by the editing program it uses (TYPO3).
The tasks given to PTB – as a National Metrology Institute, as a service provider for German industry and as a research institute that is interlinked worldwide – are highly scientific and technical. The language of PTB is therefore the language of science. PTB’s customers and partners come from those fields of science, high tech and industry. Correspondingly, the contents of PTB’s website are mostly aimed at a highly specialized audience. These contents (scientific texts and diagrams, evaluations of experiments shown as tables, etc.) cannot generally meet the requirements of accessibility in full. PTB therefore asks everyone who comes up against such barriers for their understanding.
PTB’s website has the following "accessible features":
- The pages on our website have been programmed so that the writing can be changed and spoken aloud using the software tools (screen readers) needed for this. In other words, our website is machine-readable.
- The contrast view can be used to make it easier to read our website; click on the contrast button which can be found in the header of each page to select the "high-contrast view".
- Very basic information about PTB as an institution and about PTB’s legal mission is available in "
Leichte Sprache" (Easy Read), in German only. - Some videos that are about PTB in general are also available in German Sign Language.
- All of the editors who add content to PTB’s websites are required to implement the special rules on accessibility as far as they can.
PTB’s website is fundamentally accessible. PTB is therefore completely in line with the national legal regulations on the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on enabling the accessibility of websites. This Accessibility Statement (as of: November 2023) applies to the version of PTB’s website that is currently available (www.ptb.de).
This Accessibility Statement is based on a self-assessment carried out by PTB on whether its website is compatible with the requirements of the German Act on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities ("Behindertengleichstellungsgesetzes – BGG") in conjunction with the German Ordinance on Accessible Information Technology ("Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung – BITV 2.0").
PTB’s website however also has elements which are not accessible or which are only partly accessible. We are improving this – or are planning to improve this – in all places where it is technically possible and where the contents allow it. For example, the following features on our website are not – or are not yet – accessible:
- PTB’s website quotes many original scientific papers and PTB makes them available to the public as pdf documents in the so-called
Open Access Repository (OAR) of PTB’s library. These documents do not as a rule meet the accessibility requirements, and for technical reasons, it will not be possible to make them accessible. - Not all of the visual elements we use have alternative texts explaining what they show. We are continually working on editorial improvements and adjustments of these elements.
- Not all of our videos have subtitles yet and not all of them have been translated into German Sign Language. We are continually working on adding subtitles to our videos.
- Publications of the Press and Information Office (e.g. press releases or the "PTB-News", our newsletter) are often available on PTB’s website in two formats: in html and also as pdf documents. While the html pages should largely be accessible, this does not yet apply to the pdf documents.
- The autocomplete attribute is missing in some of the input fields of our forms.
- For security reasons, forms contain a so-called captcha.
- Some foreign language texts have not been defined with a language attribute.
- The hierarchy of the headings is not kept to in some places.
- Some of the links might be hard to understand.
- A large number of the pdf documents on our website were created before 23 September 2018. It has not yet been possible for us to convert them into a format that is accessible. These pdf documents will be adapted gradually.
- We have not yet been able to give our videos an audio description. This is also being planned at the moment.
- Certain documents from office-based applications which were created before 23 September 2018 have not yet been made accessible.
- Documents from third parties (e.g. other organizations, ministries) are not accessible.
If you have any problems while you are accessing our website, and this means that you cannot access important data, then you can let us know. Please click on this link to contact us: Feedback form.
You can also contact us by post, or you can phone us:
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Press and Information Office
Bundesallee 100
38116 Braunschweig
Phone: +49 (0)531 592-3006
Email: 
barrierefreiheit(at)ptb.de
The Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Relating to Disabled Persons has an Arbitration Service in accordance with Section 16 of the German Act on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities ("Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz – BGG"). The Arbitration Service is tasked with settling conflicts between persons with disabilities and public authorities of the federal administration. You can ask the Arbitration Service to intervene if you are not satisfied with the answers you have received from the contacts given above. There are no winners or losers in this process; rather those involved try to resolve their conflict together out of court with the aid of the Arbitration Service.
The arbitration procedure is free of charge, and there is no need to call upon legal counsel. You can find all the information about such arbitration procedures on the website of the Arbitration Service. This website will also give you information about how an arbitration procedure works and how you apply for an arbitration procedure. You can also apply for an arbitration procedure in "Leichte Sprache" (Easy Read), in German only or in "Deutsche Gebärdensprache" (German Sign Language). You can reach the Arbitration Service at the following address:
Arbitration Service according to the German Act on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
Within the Office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Relating to Disabled Persons
Mauerstraße 53
10117 Berlin
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)30 18 527-2805
Fax: +49 (0)30 18 527-2901
Email: info(at)schlichtungsstelle-bgg.de
Internet: www.schlichtungsstelle-bgg.de
