Complaints office of the federal government

Contact us!

The Federal Complaints Office for Digital Accessibility is located at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and is there for you! We will inform and advise you if you encounter digital accessibility barriers on federal websites or apps.

You should first contact the institution via the contact details provided. This information is provided along with the accessibility statement on the website or in the app. Ideally, you will solve the problem with the operator directly.

No satisfactory result? Then please contact our complaints office. We will support you with the next steps. Please use our online form. After sending the form you will receive an automated email reply confirming that your complaint has been received. If you have problems handling this form, please send an email to beschwerdestelle-wzg@ffg.at.

We will process your request and get back to you with more information.

Frequently asked questions

The following summarises the key questions and answers for users of websites and mobile apps provided by public-sector bodies.

What can I do if I cannot use parts of a public website due to accessibility problems?

Get directly in touch with the contact person at that organisation. The contact person will be listed in the accessibility statement.

Who do I turn to if no contact details are given on the website, or if the reply I receive is unsatisfactory?

Our complaints office is happy to help you with websites and mobile apps provided by federal authorities. If the problem lies with a public authority website or mobile app in a federal province, please contact  your regional complaints office.

Will the FFG treat my complaint anonymously?

Yes, the FFG will not disclose your data to third parties.

What happens after I submit a complaint to the FFG?

We determine whether the website or mobile app in question fails to fulfil particular accessibility requirements and thus violates the provisions of the Web Accessibility Act (WZG).

• Where the complaint is justified in terms of the Web Accessibility Act (WZG), the team of experts at the FFG will list the barriers found and suggest remedial measures.
• If the complaint pertains to other federal laws relating to equal treatment, or the query should be dealt with by a complaints office in a different federal province, then we offer to pass on your query to the responsible office with your consent.
• If the query is not related to web accessibility, then the FFG complaints office is not responsible. The same applies when the FFG experts determine that the complaint is not justified.

In any of these cases, we will inform you of our assessment and the next steps. We make every effort to process your complaint as quickly as possible and try to keep to a maximum of 2 months.

Is the advice given by the FFG complaints office equivalent to legal advice?

No, any information and advice given by the FFG can never replace legal advice or entrusting the matter to specialised institutions such as the Disability Ombuds Office, the Ombuds Board, or a conciliation body.