Barrier-free information technology regulation

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Basic data
Title: Ordinance on the creation of barrier-free information technology according to the Disability Equality Act
Short title: Barrier-free information technology regulation
Abbreviation: BITV 2.0
Type: Federal Ordinance
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Issued on the basis of: Section 12d and Section 16 (8) BGG
Legal matter: Administrative law
References : 860-9-2-4
Original version from: July 17, 2002 ( BGBl. I p. 2654 )
Entry into force on: July 24, 2002
Last revision from: September 12, 2011
( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1843 )
Entry into force of the
new version on: 		September 22, 2011
Last change by: Art. 1 VO from May 21, 2019
( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 738 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		May 25, 2019
(Art. 3 of May 21, 2019)
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The barrier-free information technology regulation ( BITV ) is intended to guarantee a comprehensive and fundamentally unrestricted barrier-free design of modern information and communication technology ( Section 1 ). It applies in particular to websites, mobile applications, electronically supported administrative processes and graphic program interfaces ( § 2 ). Separate provisions apply to offers from the federal states . The regulation implements Directive (EU) 2016/2102 .

Definition of the criteria

The provisions of BITV strongly suggested based on the accessibility guidelines for Web content 1.0 ( Web Content Accessibility Guidelines , WCAG 1.0) of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of 5 May 1999 (Annex to BITV of 23 July 2002).

The BITV is based on the priority levels of WCAG 1.0. All requirements of priority 1 of WCAG 1.0 must be met in all areas of the web offers concerned. Central navigation and entry-level offers must also meet the requirements of priority 2 ( § 3 ).

In accordance with the content of the WCAG, the BITV does not contain any specifications on the basic technology used for the provision of electronic content and information (servers, routers, network architectures and protocols, operating systems, etc.) and with regard to the user agents to be used. The requirements and conditions relate solely to the electronic content and information offered to the user.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have been available in version 2.0 since 2008 and have been adapted in this new version to more recent developments in the development of websites. The adjustment was made through a new version of the ordinance, which also bears the addition "2.0" in its abbreviation.

According to the recommendations of the W3C, the BITV 2.0 refers to the principles of perceptibility, usability, comprehensibility and robustness contained in the WCAG 2.0 guidelines.

implementation

Since December 31, 2005, all publicly accessible federal websites had to be barrier-free. Offers that are specifically aimed at the disabled had to meet the requirements since December 31, 2003. Newly created or fundamentally revised offers had to meet the requirements from the start ( Section 4 ).

The implementation of the requirements of the BITV 2.0 for newly designed websites had to take place by March 22, 2012. For previously existing offers, there was an extended deadline until September 22, 2012. These pages had to offer the additional information in German sign language and in easy language only from March 22, 2014 ( § 3 ).

Draft of the new version

A working group made up of representatives from associations for the disabled, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs , the Federal Office of Administration and research and technology began work on the new BITV in May 2007. Similar to WCAG 2.0, references to obsolete technologies have been deleted or revised and formulated independently of technology. The requirements of deaf and hearing impaired people as well as people with learning difficulties were taken into account more in the current draft of the BITV 2.0 than both in the still valid version of the regulation and in comparison with the WCAG 2.0.

The new version of the barrier-free information technology regulation (BITV) 2.0 came into force on May 25, 2019 [1] . The BITV 2.0 implements the requirements of Directive (EU) 2016/2102 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public bodies, which were not implemented in 2018 in the updated Disability Equality Act (BGG). The handling of the standards to be considered for the barrier-free design of information technology has changed. These are no longer described in the BITV 2.0 itself, but the regulation refers to the harmonized standards published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

In addition, the new version provides details on the declaration of accessibility and specifies which content is accessible and which is not. For example, the BITV 2.0 now also for electronic administrative processes (these must be made barrier-free by June 23, 2021).

The ordinance applies to all federal public agencies. Public authorities of the federal government are not only the institutions of the federal administration , but also the bodies that have to apply the procurement law and are attributable to the federal government (see: § 12 BGG ).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Amendment of May 21, 2019 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 738 )
  2. ↑ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 ( English ) WC3. August 26, 2000. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ heise.de: New web standard for accessibility WCAG 2.0 adopted