Accessible Internet

The University Hospital of Cologne has deliberately designed this website to be barrier-free.

Accessible websites enable people with a wide range of disabilities and older people with age-related cognitive impairments to actively participate in life. However, they are not only advantageous for people with a disability, but also offer clear and concise structures, user-friendly navigation and short page loading times.

The aim is to make the content accessible regardless of the output device (browser, PDA, screen reader, search engines, etc.).

We are constantly striving to adapt our website to the standards for accessible websites. If you encounter any barriers on our pages or have any other suggestions for improvement, please contact us by e-mail so that we can try to address them.

The following applies in principle:

  • In an accessible website, all problem areas that could prevent or impede access to the content have been removed.
  • An accessible website is not an additional service, but presents all content in a clearly structured way (via XHTML).
  • Content and design are strictly separated from each other.

The "World Wide Web Consortium" (W3C) has developed rules to ensure access to the wealth of information on the Internet regardless of the various output devices.

The importance of this concern is reflected, for example, in the so-called "Disability Equality Act", which requires all federal authorities, corporations and institutions to take accessibility into account.

We have gone to great lengths to comply with the rules of accessibility when creating this website.

For example, we do not use

  • flickering and flashing content,
  • frame constructions (frames) with the exception of the search function
  • table structures as layout elements,
  • text information hidden in graphic elements.

In accordance with the W3C requirements, we use

  • variable font sizes (adjustable via your browser's font menu),
  • a layout that separates structure and content,
  • continuously annotated illustrations and links (these are displayed when you hover the mouse pointer over an illustration),
  • Tables only for the presentation of tabular information.

Font sizes

In all common browsers, the size of the font and graphics can be adjusted using the following key combination:

Ctrl (or ⌘ for Mac) and + (plus) or - (minus) key at the same time

Alternatively, the adjustment can also be made via the settings menu of the respective browser:

  • Chrome: Three-dot menu (top right) - "Zoom"
  • Edge: Three-dot menu (top right) - "Zoom"
  • Internet Explorer: Gear menu (top right) - "Zoom"
  • Mozilla Firefox: three-bar menu (top right) - "Zoom"
  • Opera: red Opera symbol (top left) - "Zoom" arrow keys
  • Safari: "View" menu page - "Zoom in" or "Zoom out"

Optimization for tablets (e.g. iPad) and smartphones (e.g. iPhone)

We offer an adapted display for mobile devices such as tablet PCs and smartphones. You will also be able to view all the content of the normal website on these devices.

In addition, we offer smartphone users the option of selecting displayed telephone numbers directly and calling them.