Finding cover, updating details and making a claim
DONAU Versicherung’s website has separate sections for personal and business customers, with product groups covering health, life, motor and home insurance. Claims, policyholder details and personal advice have their own entry points. Someone reporting a loss needs a different route from someone researching cover for the first time.
Across several menu levels, people using a keyboard or screen reader need to know which submenu is open, where focus has moved and how to return. Zooming in can also switch the layout. The navigation needs to remain understandable in that view too.
An open or closed submenu needs to expose its state to assistive technology, not just show a visual change. Voice control users need to be able to activate buttons by saying the words on their labels. Someone using a single switch needs to reach and select menu items in sequence. These requirements allow people to navigate without a conventional mouse or keyboard.
These shared elements were a major part of our work. Improving the navigation affects many tasks across the site, from comparing products to finding a familiar service form quickly.
Working towards certification on an existing website
Established websites often contain years of additions: new features, more forms and components built at different times with different technologies. Accessibility improvements can be made across these complex sites with certification as the goal. A complete rebuild is not necessarily the starting point.
We assess which components can be improved and which need more substantial changes or replacement. Shared navigation, form fields and dialogs are useful places to start, since one correction can benefit many pages and forms. We then check complete user journeys, including handovers to older or separately developed applications. We agree the scope with independent assessors and work through the required changes before reassessment.
Nearly a hundred forms, from address changes to medical claims
Two examples show the range. A policyholder might need to update an address or bank details. An outpatient claim involves treatment categories, invoice amounts and supporting documents, with the option to add further items before reviewing the submission.
Uploads, grouped fields and options to add further items each introduce their own requirements. Related fields need to be recognisable as a group. Upload controls need useful labels and feedback. If a form adds another set of fields, someone using a screen reader needs to be able to find them.
At this scale, shared components make a substantial difference. Improvements to labels, selection controls and validation can benefit several forms at once. Each process still needs individual attention: updating an address, claiming medical expenses and applying for a policy require different information and different next steps.
Making multi-step applications accessible
People applying for insurance with DONAU Versicherung need to be able to complete the process using a keyboard and screen reader: enter their details, understand guidance, correct mistakes and move to the next step.
Transitions need particular care. An error message must identify the field that needs attention and explain what to correct. When the next step opens, people need to know where to continue without relying on a visual change. Appropriate status announcements and deliberate focus management provide that orientation. Correcting one answer should not mean losing the others.
Developers and accessibility specialists working together
Balázs Vizi, our lead frontend developer and accessibility specialist, has been part of rudybohrer since March 2016. His work combines interface development with a detailed understanding of keyboard and assistive technology use. That experience is particularly valuable when building navigation and form components used throughout a website.
We work with Werner Rosenberger of the Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs, an Austrian organisation supporting blind and visually impaired people, on accessibility assessment and improvements. The 2025 follow-up involved specialists with and without disabilities, using tools including NVDA on Windows and VoiceOver on an iPhone. This reveals interactions that visual inspection or automated testing alone can miss.
Useful findings pinpoint the step, control and feedback involved. That gives the development team enough detail to make a change and check it again in context. The changes must meet the client’s requirements and brand identity guidelines while making the interface accessible.
Four client websites with WACA certification
In 2024, DONAU Versicherung became the first Austrian insurance company to earn WACA Bronze certification for its website. Four client websites we have worked on now hold that certification: donauversicherung.at, lotterien.at, playsponsible.at and casinos.at. We worked with Werner Rosenberger on all four projects.
Our accessibility experience extends well beyond these four certified websites. They provide publicly documented examples of our work. Each audit report sets out its scope and findings; certification of a website does not mean every connected application has been assessed in full. DONAU Versicherung’s application processes were also subject to separate assessments.
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donauversicherung.at
WACA Bronze
Read audit report (German) · donauversicherung.at · opens in a new tab -
lotterien.at
WACA Bronze
Read audit report (German) · lotterien.at · opens in a new tab -
playsponsible.at
WACA Bronze
Read audit report (German) · playsponsible.at · opens in a new tab -
casinos.at
WACA Bronze
Read audit report (German) · casinos.at · opens in a new tab
Maintaining accessibility as forms and features change
Adding a field can affect keyboard order. A new cover option can introduce instructions or follow-up questions. A replacement document may be harder to read with a screen reader than the previous version. Accessibility checks therefore belong in ongoing development as well as the original project.
We apply this experience when designing components and planning new interactions. For existing websites, we start with the most widely used elements and the tasks that matter most to customers. Our accessibility service page explains the work we take on and how we assess it.
The work at DONAU Versicherung spans product menus, forms and multi-step insurance applications. Changes within an application need particular care: additional fields, follow-up questions, validation and corrections. We assess these interactions with a keyboard and screen reader, drawing on both our own expertise and independent specialists.