Accessibility Statement

We (Oberbergischer Kreis) as the website operator strive to design the website in compliance with the relevant accessibility regulations. The following legal regulations apply to us:

Law of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Equal Treatment of People with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities for Disabled Persons Act of North Rhine-Westphalia - BGG NRW) and Accessible Information Technology Ordinance of North Rhine-Westphalia (BITVNRW)

Website

This accessibility statement applies to the website https://www.obk.de.

Publication Date of the Website

This website was published on 21.09.2026.

Last Update of the Website

This website was last substantially updated on 21.09.2026.

Feedback and Contact Information

Have you noticed any deficiencies in the accessibility of content on our website or do you have comments or questions about accessibility? Please feel free to contact us at:

Oberbergischer Kreis
The District Administrator
Klaus Grootens
Moltkestraße 42
51643 Gummersbach

Main Phone: 02261 88-0
Fax: 02261 88-1033
Email: barrierefreiheit@obk.de

Status of Compliance with the Requirements

This website is not fully compliant with the accessibility regulations applicable to us. Specifically:

Non-compliance with Accessibility Regulations

The following contents are not compliant with the relevant legal accessibility requirements:

• In our Geoportal, we offer interactive map applications embedded directly into the page. These maps are not accessible.

• PDF documents and other downloadable files

  Some of the documents provided on our website, especially PDF files, are not yet fully accessible. This mainly applies to older documents as well as files that were not originally created for accessible digital use.

  For individual documents, the following barriers may occur:

  • Headings and other structural elements are not or not fully technically marked.

  • Images, graphics, or other non-textual content do not always have alternative texts.

  • Tables are not fully prepared for use with screen readers.

  • The reading order of content is sometimes not clearly defined.

  • Form fields are not or not fully accessible.

  • Scanned documents are sometimes not or only partially machine-readable.

  • Some content may have insufficient contrast.

  We strive to provide new documents as accessible as possible and to gradually revise existing, particularly relevant or frequently used documents.
  

Reasons for Existing Barriers

Some of the documents provided on the website come from a large, long-established document archive. A complete retrospective revision of all older documents into accessible files involves significant effort. Therefore, new and revised documents are created and provided as accessible as possible.

Existing documents are being revised gradually and based on their relevance to users.

External Online Services and Applications

Our website sometimes links to external online services and applications. These include, for example, online forms, appointment booking systems, and digital administrative services.

Some of these applications are provided by external service providers or other entities and may currently not be fully accessible.

The Oberbergischer Kreis has limited direct influence on the technical design and further development of these applications.

If you experience difficulties using an online service or application, please contact us. We will do our best to provide you with an alternative way to address your concerns.

Exceptions to the Scope of Accessibility Regulations

The following non-accessible content on this website is not covered by the scope of accessibility regulations:

• Press release archive dating back to 2002

• Public announcements archive dating back to 2004

• Some integrations of our mapping service RIO (Rauminformation Oberberg) may not be accessible.
  
  

Evaluation Method

Self-evaluation

The accessibility check is carried out regularly as part of a BITV self-assessment. Due to the scope of the website, we proceed systematically and step by step. The last check was carried out in September 2026. 

The editorial content is reviewed by our editors upon publication. 

Enforcement Procedure

If you believe that you are disadvantaged by the lack of sufficient accessibility of our website, you can contact the responsible enforcement body. You can reach them at:

Ombuds Office for Accessible Information Technology of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia at the State Commissioner for People with Disabilities
Fürstenwall 25
40219 Düsseldorf

Email: ombudsstelle-barrierefreie-it@mags.nrw.de

Explanatory Videos in Sign Language

A presentation of the district administration as well as a video explaining navigation and basic page functions can be viewed here in German Sign Language (DGS):

• Videos in German Sign Language

• Accessibility Statement in German Sign Language
  
  

Information in Simple Language

We explain in simple language:

• Who we are.

• What is on our pages.

• How to find content.

We have these explanations here for you:

Information in Simple Language

Accessibility Statement in Simple Language

Other Information on Accessibility

We continuously strive to make our website as accessible as possible. For this reason, we try, for example, to use citizen-friendly language in the texts and explain technical terms.

Creation of this Accessibility Statement

This statement was created on 11.09.2026.

The statement was last reviewed on 11.09.2026.