The Federal Government relies on Materna’s expertise for accessibility testing

The IT consultancy firm Materna Information & Communications SE was awarded two lots under the framework contract tender issued by the Procurement Office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior for consultancy and testing services relating to the accessibility of software, websites and mobile applications. Eligible contracting authorities can procure Materna’s BITV services via the Federal Government’s procurement portal. The new framework contracts 21121 and 21126 are available for this purpose.

Materna has been developing fully accessible solutions such as websites, specialist systems and apps for many years. In addition, the company offers comprehensive consultancy and testing services in the field of BITV.

Materna has its own Accessibility Centre of Excellence. Here, Materna’s experts check, amongst other things, whether websites comply with Directive EU 301 549 and other national requirements. When auditing websites, the 60 test steps of the current BITV/WCAG test are applied. Additional national and international requirements are also included in the scope of the audit, such as those relating to sign language and plain language. Materna provides a comprehensive audit report, including screenshots of problem areas, a description of the issues and their impact on the relevant group of people with disabilities, suggestions for solutions, and a percentage-based assessment of the degree of compliance with statutory requirements and international guidelines. Furthermore, Materna assists in drawing up the legally required accessibility statement and provides coaching for editors.

About Materna

The Materna Group currently employs more than 2,300 staff worldwide and achieved a turnover of 323.8 million euros in 2019. Materna covers the entire range of services offered by a full-service provider in the premium segment: from consultancy through to implementation and operation. Materna advises and supports companies and public authorities in all aspects of digitalisation and delivers bespoke technologies for agile, flexible and secure IT. Its clients include IT organisations as well as specialist departments within companies and the public sector. The group also comprises various subsidiaries.