Volkshochschule Coburg Stadt and Land

"By working with Eye-Able®, Coburg Adult Education Center is helping to ensure that the right to education, vocational training and further education, as set out in Article 14 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, is guaranteed for all people."

For more digital participation: vhs Coburg introduces "Eye-Able" assistance software

Too small a font or too little contrast can quickly make using a website a major challenge - especially for people with visual impairments or older people. The Coburg Adult Education Center has decided to work with the company Eye-Able to promote digital accessibility on its website and online services. Eye-Able is a young company from Lower Franconia that specializes in the development of software solutions to support accessible websites.

A small black figure on the right-hand side of the websites refers to the new software, with which the display of the pages can be adapted to suit individual needs without changing or even distorting the layout of the pages.

Anyone who finds the font on the website too small can use the new assistance software to individually enlarge the view. People with red, green or blue blindness can adjust the contrasts. Even people without sight can use the website and have it read aloud to them and move from element to element. For people with a cognitive impairment such as dyslexia or for older people, a large number of elements can present a barrier.

This is why, for example, the images on the pages can be hidden if required or the mouse pointer can be enlarged. Accessibility means more than just better accessibility for people with disabilities, as Benedikt Dellert from vhs Coburg expressly emphasizes: "Accessibility helps everyone! Even people without obvious disabilities benefit from a more accessible adult education center."

Many cities and municipalities are already obliged to make their online presences accessible, but are often still lagging behind the legal requirements. Although this obligation does not yet apply to many adult education centers, Coburg Adult Education Center wants to set its own innovative course here: "We are not just concerned with complying with minimum legal standards. Rather, we want to work in a sustainable way, remove barriers and make adult education centers more attractive 'for everyone'," says Dellert.

Around 1 billion people worldwide have a disability, 215 million of whom have a visual impairment. They may have problems using websites.

The Eye-Able software supports compliance with current digital accessibility standards and improves the user-friendliness of systems. It can be installed quickly and easily and can be used on any browser and any website.

By working together, the Coburg Adult Education Center is helping to ensure that the right to education, vocational training and continuing education, as set out in Article 14 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, is guaranteed for all people.