The website currently complies only partially with the Hessian Ordinance on Accessible Information Engineering – BITV HE 2019.
Reasons:
Goethe University is currently undergoing an extensive website relaunch, paired with a newly structured editorial process. Key pages of the university, now hosted in the Magnolia content management system with a fresh frontend design, fully meet the latest accessibility standards. These updates went live on November 13, 2025.
However, older pages still running on the outdated Fiona content management system (recognizable by their predominantly blue design) cannot technically implement essential accessibility principles.
Initiatives
Goethe University Frankfurt will gradually roll out its new websites over the next few years, featuring a fresh design paired with a new content management system. Key pages of Goethe University in the Magnolia content management system now feature a new frontend design that fully complies with the latest guidelines. The update went live on November 13, 2025.
For older webpages still using the outdated Fiona content management system (recognizable by their predominantly blue design), essential accessibility principles cannot be implemented due to technical limitations.
Non-compliances with and/or exemptions from accessibility requirements on pages in the outdated content management system:
- The existing audio description for blind users cannot be switched on and off via a user interface element in the video player. In addition, there is no full-text alternative.
- For editorial reasons, not all font graphics have alternative texts.
- The directions displayed as an image have neither an alternative text nor is there another text elsewhere on the website that describes these directions.
- There are layout graphics that all have the same – superfluous – placeholder text (lorem ipsum) as an alternative text.
- The existing headings are not marked according to the logical hierarchy levels.
- Not all paragraphs are marked as such.
- There are empty sections on some web pages.
- The cookie consent banner does not appear first when using the keyboard but only at the very end.
- There is too little contrast in the main navigation labels and between the individual items themselves and the background.
- The same applies to the breadcrumbs.
- When zoomed to 200%, the main navigation is condensed into a hamburger menu, but the user can no longer call it up via the keyboard.
- When zoomed to 400%, some texts are line-wrapped incorrectly and partially obscured/overlapped as a result.
- If the text spacing is adjusted/enlarged, text in user interface elements (e.g. “Select Faculty" in the pull-down menu) is truncated.
- The focus is too low in contrast in many places on the website or not discernible at all.
- It is not possible to stop advertising banners displayed on the website.
- There are no marked sections that can be skipped entirely.
- The linked graphics are not recognizable as such for sighted people because the descriptive texts are not additionally marked (e.g. by underlining).
- There are graphic links that have either a completely encrypted alternative text or an encrypted sub-name attached to their name.
- The links to YouTube videos are not recognizable as such.
- There are terms/text passages on some pages that are not marked as being in a foreign language. This leads to screen readers reading content out incorrectly.
- Use of the search function leads to a new window without screen reader users noticing. Returning to the previous window is difficult.
- Navigation varies greatly from faculty to faculty.
This statement was created on November 13, 2025, and the previous website was last reviewed on June 10, 2024, by the Competence Center for Digital Inclusion for All at the Stiftung Pfennigparade Foundation.
The Pfennigparade Foundation conducts reviews in line with the core requirements of EU Directive 2016/2102. The relevant accessibility criteria for ICT products and services, based on the harmonized European Standard EN 301 549, Version 3.2.1, are applied—specifically those listed in Table A.1: Websites.
