Accessibility

The Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNET recognizes the importance of ensuring digital accessibility for all users, with a special emphasis on facilitating access to public services and information for persons with disabilities, by applying, to the greatest extent possible, Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. 

CARNET continuously improves the user experience by applying relevant accessibility standards according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2, Level AA) of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organization that standardizes web technologies.

CARNET has developed Guidelines for ensuring digital accessibility to ensure the accessibility of its digital content or applications right from their creation.

As a public sector body, CARNET is obligated to ensure the accessibility of its web pages in accordance with the Act on the Accessibility of Web Pages and Software Solutions for Mobile Devices of Public Sector Bodies of the Republic of Croatia (NN 17/19) of September 23, 2019, which transposes Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies into national legislation, and with the Act on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services (NN 89/25) of June 6, 2025.

This Accessibility Statement applies to CARNET's corporate web headquarters at www.carnet.hr.

Compliance status

The website www.carnet.hr is partially compliant with the Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies Act. Most of the requirements of the European standard EN 301 549 V1.1.2 (2015-04) have been met, but with some exceptions.

Inaccessible content

Exceptions to compliance with the Accessibility Act, according to the four general requirements for ensuring accessibility – perceivability, operability, understandability, and robustness – are manifested in the following content sections:

• Perceptual ability

Due to the dynamic nature of the homepage, screen readers used by blind individuals do not always display content in the same way.

• Operability

Areas that activate on mouseover, whether textual or icon-based, are not large enough for users with motor impairments. full screen The search engine does not allow searching without pressing the key. Enter, in the way that is enabled in individual block search engines. Elements from footer The network portal, „CARNET+“ links, and network portal maps are expanded in a way that requires scrolling down to be fully visible, instead of expanding upwards, which would keep the distance from the bottom of the page unchanged. The current solution, when expanding these elements, leaves the distance from the top of the page unchanged.

When searching for CARNET member institutions, the entire subgroup should be a button to expand it, or the „+“ sign on the right should be larger and more noticeable. The „News“ block in header The network headquarters is not intuitive for screen reader users because the readers do not recognize that the existing links filter the news, and a better technical-operational solution needs to be found.

• Comprehensibility

In addition to the arrow-shaped indicators, which allow you to browse the list of institutions CARNET collaborates with by scrolling left and right, it should be further indicated that there are more collaborating institutions than those visible on the screen.

• Stability

In Internet Explorer, screen reader content always looks the same on a page, but in other browsers, content does not always display the same way.

Improving Accessibility

CARNET will implement corrective measures to address the inaccessibility of its website content to the maximum extent possible after its employees have been trained in creating, managing, and maintaining website content and mobile application solutions in accordance with the Accessibility Act. This training will be conducted by the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society in cooperation with the State School for Public Administration, the Information Commissioner, and the national umbrella organization for persons with disabilities.

Preparation of this Accessibility Statement

This Statement was prepared on September 23, 2019, and revised on October 8, 2025, in accordance with the accessibility statement template that complies with Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, as established by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1523 of October 11, 2018. 

An accessibility testing approach was used to prepare this Statement.

Accessibility testing was conducted by people with different types of disabilities who are advanced users of information technology.

Testing was performed on the following operating systems, web browsers, and mobile devices: MS Win10, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, iPhoneXS iOS Safari. Assistive technology used during testing: NVDA screen reader.NonVisual Desktop Access 2019, Jaws 2019 screen reader, VoiceOver, on-screen keyboard.

Feedback and contact information

All inquiries relating to the accessibility of CARNET's website can be directed to the Customer Service (Helpdesk).

You can contact CARNET's Helpdesk by:

• by email: helpdesk@carnet.hr
• telephone: +385 1 6661 555
• by mail: CARNET User Support Service, Josipa Marohnića 5, 10000 Zagreb.

CARNET Helpdesk working hours are Monday to Sunday from 8 AM to 8 PM.

CARNET is obliged to respond to user inquiries, notifications, or requests regarding accessibility assurance within 15 days of receiving the notification, request, or within the same timeframe, with a detailed explanation of the reasons requiring a postponement, inform the user of a subsequent deadline by which it will respond to the user's notification or request. In accordance with the usual operation of its Helpdesk, CARNET will strive to process inquiries within two working days.

Inspection supervision

The body responsible for monitoring the compliance of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies with accessibility requirements and overseeing the implementation of the Accessibility Act is the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Croatia.

In case of unsatisfactory responses to a notice or request for feedback on the accessibility of these web pages, users can contact the Information Commissioner via email: accessibility@pristupinfo.hr.

In order to provide information to public sector bodies on how to implement the obligation to ensure digital accessibility, the Information Commissioner has also opened a digital accessibility info-line, available at +385 1 2009 120, every Wednesday and Friday from 1 PM to 3 PM. 

Visual guides for creating websites and software solutions, considering various user difficulties or disabilities (dyslexia, low vision, blindness, deafness and hard of hearing, motor difficulties, autism), designed as posters.  

Original posters are available for non-commercial use under the Creative Commons license 4.0, and for users from the Croatian-speaking area, they have been adapted by the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society in cooperation with the Croatian Information Commissioner.