German BIENE award reveals best practice in barrier-free Web design

In the European year of people with disabilities 2003 the major German social organisation “Aktion Mensch” and the “Stiftung Digitale Chancen” (digital opportunities foundation) have for the first time jointly initiated a competition for the design of barrier-free Web sites. The so-called BIENE award is meant to honor the best barrier-free Web sites in the German language and to present them as best practice examples. In this context, the acronym BIENE stands for “Barrierefreies Internet eröffnet neue Einsichten” (“barrier-free Internet reveals new insights”), stressing the objectives of promoting communication, joint action and productive cooperation.

1. The Burda Academy for the Third Millennium (http://www.akademie3000.de/index.htm) is an institution of the Hubert Burda Foundation (http://www.hubert-burda-stiftung.de). It is a forum for researchers, philosophers, and visionaries of the most diverse scientific disciplines and social areas. In international conferences, discussions, presentations and publications it unites experts dealing with central questions of present and future societal developments.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology, FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, 53754, Sankt Augustin, Germany

   Renate Anderweit & Michael Pieper

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Pieper.

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