How a German Ministry Turned Legal Requirements into Lived Accessibility

Legal Requirements as a Catalyst

Since 2019, the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg has been working intensively on the accessibility of its documents. The starting point was legal requirements such as the State Disability Equality Act (L-BGG) and its implementing ordinance. What began as a regulatory obligation evolved into a comprehensive digitalization and inclusion project. The initial phase was demanding: the COVID-19 pandemic made collaboration and the search for external support more difficult. Through a consulting agreement and considerable personal initiative, the team systematically built a solid knowledge base.

Structure, Training and the Right Tools

To embed accessibility sustainably, the ministry combined structure, training and technology. Style templates in Microsoft Word, available to all roughly 400 employees, ensure consistent design, quality and compliance with corporate design standards. With axesWord, staff create accessible PDFs directly in Word, and axesPDF is used to check and optimize existing documents. Explanatory videos and blog articles from axes4 support departments with clarification and internal knowledge sharing.

“I'm very grateful for the explanatory videos and blog articles from axes4. They are a great support for us.”
Birgit Falck-Ytter, Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg

Accessibility as Part of Everyday Work

Today, PDF accessibility is firmly embedded within the ministry. Defined processes, coordinated templates and ongoing training have made creating accessible documents a routine part of daily work. Processes are efficient, quality is consistent, and awareness of digital inclusion has grown across the entire organization. The ministry shows how legal requirements can be translated into sustainable structures.