SIMO GmbH accessibility statement

Accessibility statement

SIMO GmbH wants this website to be usable by everyone, regardless of impairment or assistive technology. This statement describes openly what we have achieved so far and what we have not. This English version is provided for convenience; the German version is legally binding.

Scope

This statement covers the website simo-online.com with all German and English subpages, as well as the Mr. SIMO AI chat. It does not cover third-party content that we embed but do not produce ourselves. On this website that is only the video on the podcast page, which loads from the video platform after you click it. There is no cookie consent dialog, no shop, and no embedded map here.

Standards applied

Our benchmarks are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at conformance level AA, the European standard EN 301 549 (clause 9, web), and the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG). SIMO GmbH advises organizations, not consumers, so we consider a direct legal obligation under the BFSG to apply only in a limited way. We apply the requirements voluntarily and treat them as binding for our own work. No external audit or certification against any of these standards exists.

Conformance status

This website is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that most requirements are met while individual items demonstrably are not. Each affected item is named below.

Known limitations

The following defects are known and documented. We name them because a statement without open items is usually a statement that was never tested.

• On a few pages, purely decorative icons are not yet marked as decorative. Screen readers then announce them even though they carry no information. This affects WCAG 1.1.1 (A).
• Some borders and focus rings may not reach the minimum contrast of 3:1 required for user interface components (WCAG 1.4.11). Since the redesign in September 2026, this has not been fully re-measured.
• Automated tools do not check text on images or gradients, or text inside graphics. Two such places fell below the minimum contrast of 4.5:1: the eyebrow on the company page and the article references in the EU AI Act graphic. We re-measured and fixed both in October 2026; until the next full review we cannot rule out further places of this kind (WCAG 1.4.3).
• The AI chat renders answers character by character. Depending on the program, screen readers announce such continuously growing output late or incompletely.
• Captions for our podcast episodes come from the video platform and are partly machine-generated. They are not editorially reviewed. We do not offer audio description. We have only indirect influence on the accessibility of the video player itself.
• Testing by users with disabilities has not taken place so far. Our assessment rests on technical review, not on lived experience.

How we tested

This statement is based on an internal review carried out on August 5, 2026, and updated on October 7, 2026, after the redesign. Testing combined automated tooling (axe-core in the browser) with manual checks: keyboard-only operation, calculated color contrast in light and dark areas, reflow at a width of 320 pixels, motion and animation, language markup of passages, and spot checks with a screen reader. Fixed since the first version, among others: reflow without horizontal scrolling at 320 pixels, language markup on the English team page and for English sources in the blog, and animations that ran endlessly. Testing by users with disabilities and an external assessment are still outstanding.

What we do next

The items listed above are tracked in our work plan. Priority goes to marking decorative icons and to the contrast of borders and focus rings. After that, we will arrange testing by users with disabilities. This statement is reviewed and updated after each fix and at least once a year.

Feedback and contact

Did you encounter a barrier, or do you need content in an accessible format? Write or call us. Please name the page concerned and, if possible, the assistive technology you use. We acknowledge every message and normally reply within two weeks.

Contact for issues

If you encounter accessibility issues on our website, please contact us:

If our answer is not enough

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the German market surveillance authority for the accessibility of products and services (Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen, MLBF). It is the competent body for complaints under the Accessibility Strengthening Act.