Accessibility

DECLARATION OF AVAILABILITY OF THE MALBORK CASTLE MUSEUM WEBSITE

The Malbork Castle Museum undertakes to ensure the availability of its website in accordance with the Act of 4 April 2019 on the digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public entities. The accessibility statement applies to the website of the Malbork Castle Museum www.zamek.malbork.pl

Website publication date: 2017.06.01
Date of last significant update: 2022.01.03
Status in terms of compliance with the law
The website is partially compliant with the Act of 4 April 2019 on digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public entities due to incompatibilities or exclusions listed below.

Content unavailable
• no alternative texts and unlabeled buttons in the downloadable material;
• partial lack of alternative texts and audio descriptions;
• partial lack of information that links leading to external websites open in a new tab;
• partial lack of properly described links;
• partial lack of language declaration for foreign language elements;
• unavailability of tables;
• some films do not have subtitles for the deaf and deaf. All new videos added to our website already have these subtitles. For videos before September 23, 2020, we plan to add subtitles by the end of 2022;
• archival documents published on the website before September 23, 2018 are not available. We have no legal obligation to adapt these documents. If you need access to them, please contact us and indicate exactly which ones you mean and how we should adjust them.

Date of preparation of the Declaration and method of evaluating digital accessibility
The statement was made on: 2021.07.27

Keyboard Shortcuts
Standard browser keyboard shortcuts can be used on the website. It does not contain keyboard shortcuts that conflict with assistant programs.

Feedback and contact information
In case of problems with the accessibility of the website, please contact us. e-mail sekretariat@zamek.malbork.pl

In the same way, you can submit requests for access to unavailable information and submit requests to ensure availability.

Appeal proceedings

Everyone has the right to request the availability of a digital website, mobile application or any element thereof. You can also request information to be made available using an alternative access method, for example by reading a digitally unavailable document, describing the content of a film without audio description, etc. The request should contain the data of the person making the request, an indication of which website or mobile application it is about and the method of contact. If the requesting person reports the need to receive information by means of an alternative access method, he or she should also specify the method of presenting this information conveniently for him/her. The public entity should implement the request immediately, no later than within 7 days from the date of the request. If it is not possible to meet this deadline, the public entity shall immediately inform the person making the request about it, when it will be possible to fulfill the request, however, this time limit may not be longer than 2 months from the date of the request. If ensuring digital accessibility is not possible, the public entity may propose an alternative method of access to information. In the event that the public entity refuses to comply with the request to ensure accessibility or an alternative method of access to information, the person making the request may file a complaint regarding the provision of digital accessibility of the website, mobile application or element of the website or mobile application. After exhausting the procedure indicated above, you can also submit an application to the Ombudsman.

Link to the Ombudsman’s website. Link opens in a new tab ->  Go to the Ombudsman’s website

Architectural accessibility

1. Description of accessibility to enter the building and pass through control areas.

a) Malbork Castle is located on the right bank of the Nogat River, in the north-western part of the city, in the Old Town district, about 15 minutes from on foot from the railway station.

There are two ways to get to the ticket office and visitor service building:

– from the side of the Kałdowo district – a wooden footbridge across the river and ul. Starościńska, accessible only to pedestrian traffic. The cobblestone surface is very inconvenient for people in a wheelchair, so the help of an accompanying person is recommended here.

– from the city side – ul. Piastowska and ul. Sierakowskich – access road, which is allowed for car traffic; along the road there is a pavement without architectural barriers, the approach is flat.

The ticket office building has entrances that allow people with mobility impairments, including people in wheelchairs, to move around. The main entrance door to the building is opened automatically by a photocell and has been pasted with information about the museum. The banding is a contrasting strip 10 cm wide, placed at the height of 85 to 105 cm and from 150 cm to 200 cm.

The property is equipped with a wheelchair.If necessary, please refer to the nearest employee of the Castle Guard.

Getting from the ticket office building to the main gate of the castle and to the courtyard of the Middle Castle causes many problems for people with mobility or neurological disabilities, due to the very uneven surface (cobblestones and uneven sidewalks), there is also no convenient path for prams, including prams. The entrance gate is sometimes, if necessary, opened entirely by security personnel, which allows wheelchair users to easily enter and move to the courtyard of the Middle Castle. At the main gate there is a second wheelchair available for visitors in need of such assistance and an AEC+ defibrillator. In case of emergency, please contact the nearest employee of the Castle Guard.

b) The Kwidzyn Castle is located on the edge of the Vistula River valley, in the north-western part of the city, with the entrance from the north, at ul. Katedralna 1. The castle can be reached on foot within 15 minutes from the railway station. Access by car to the castle from ul. Brotherhood of Nations and ul. Cathedral. Parking for cars is located in front of the castle gate.

Access to the courtyard for the disabled is easy, there are no architectural barriers. The surface is paved with stone slabs and cobblestones.

c) Sztum Castle is located between the Barlewickie and Sztumskie lakes in the south-eastern part of the city. There are two entrances to Sztum – from the east and the west. From the train station you can reach the castle on foot and such a walk takes about 20 minutes.

Direct access by car to the castle from ul. Gall Anonymous. Parking for cars is located near the castle gate. Access to the courtyard for the disabled is easy, without architectural barriers, but the surface is paved with cobblestones.

2. Description of accessibility of corridors and stairs.

The Castle Museum in Malbork and its branches: Sztum Castle and Kwidzyn Castle are located in medieval buildings, so the corridors, cloisters and stairs are mostly winding and narrow, not adapted to the movement of people with physical disabilities.

3. Description of adaptations (e.g. ramps, elevators, platforms, voice feedback, induction loops).

a) lifts

– Malbork Castle:

* Inside the ticket office building, architectural barriers have been lifted. There is an elevator (GMV passenger lift, lifting capacity 630 kg, type 137/H/14), enabling access to toilets and luggage storage.

* The Palace of the Grand Masters (Middle Castle) is equipped with a stair platform – VIMEC (with a lifting capacity of 430 kg, type 983/273-1, manufactured in 2004); which, if necessary, is served by an assistant of a physically disabled person or by exhibition staff.

* The permanent amber exhibition (the Middle Castle) is equipped with skids at the entrance, operated by an assistant of a physically disabled person or by the exhibition staff.

* In the Karwan building in the outer bailey, two devices have been installed to enable people with physical disabilities to reach each floor. These are:
1) KALI B vertical platform (capacity 385 kg, type B-15-965, year of production 2015) enabling movement to the ground floor of Karwan;
2) elevator (WINDPOL hydraulic passenger lift with a lifting capacity of 630 kg, model 273/2004, year of production 2004) for moving to upper floors.

– Kwidzyn Castle and Sztum Castle do not have any devices enabling people with physical disabilities to reach the upper floors.

b) toilets

Malbork Castle

– in the ticket office building, in the toilets there is a separate cabin for people with disabilities and a shower cabin, all with an independent entrance from the women’s and men’s toilet complexes; the toilet has an alarm system to call for help.

– toilets in the courtyard of the Middle Castle are equipped with a REMDŹWIG access platform (with a lifting capacity of 300 kg, type T100, manufactured in 2006), operated by an assistant of a physically disabled person or by the museum staff. The toilets have a separate cabin for people with disabilities, with an independent entrance from the women’s and men’s toilet complexes; the toilet has an alarm system to call for help.
– in the Karwan building (outer bailey) on the second floor there is a toilet adapted to the needs of the disabled. It can be reached using two lifts.

– in the Przedzamcze there is a seasonally open toilet (May-September), equipped with a cabin for people with disabilities. There is a lift platform in the toilets.

Kwidzyn Castle

– a toilet in the courtyard and on the second floor accessible after overcoming several steps of stairs

Castle in Sztum

– toilet available in the wing of the castle on the ground floor

c) audio guides

The Castle Museum in Malbork can be visited with a guide or on your own with an audio guide. Polish sign language has been introduced for the hard of hearing and deaf people, which can be read on the display of the guide’s audio equipment. Introduced PJM to 1100 pieces of audio guide device.

The Kwidzyn Castle can be visited using audio guides. Unfortunately, there is no recording in sign language.

d) induction loop

The museum uses an induction loop in the ticket office building. It is a Univox device model CTC 121, installed on three stations – 1 x cash desk, 1 x audio guide download station, 1 x information desk. The induction loop used meets the requirements of the European Federation of Hard of Hearing Persons (EFHOH) Directive and complies with the PN EN 601118-4:2007 standard. It is controlled and certified by the organization representing EFHOH. These positions are properly marked, informing about the functioning of the induction loop.

4. Information about the place and method of using parking spaces designated for the disabled.

In Malbork, in the outer ward, there are two parking spaces for the disabled, marked with a horizontal sign P-18, supplemented with the symbol P-24 and a vertical sign D-18, with a T-29 plate. At the benches in the outer bailey, there are additional places for a person in a wheelchair.

In Kwidzyn there are parking spaces at the castle gate.

5. Information about the right to enter with an assistance dog and possible justified restrictions.

People with an assistance dog have access to the courtyards, exhibitions and castle interiors. However, due to narrow and winding passages, corridors and stairs, as well as heavy traffic, entering the exhibition grounds and the castle interiors may be difficult to a large extent.

6. Information on the possibility of using a sign language interpreter on site or online

The greatest communication barrier in accessing the resources of the Castle Museum for people with hearing and speech disabilities is the difficulty or lack of communication with other people, which translates into the inability to receive substantive content related to the exhibitions, exhibits, interiors, etc. presented in the museum.

The Museum does not use subtitles for the blind and deaf, transcripts for audio materials in its premises.

The exhibitions in the museum do not use audio-description techniques, there is no offer addressed to people with visual disabilities.

The museum is also not prepared to enable visually impaired people to explore works of art through touch – no tactile graphics or three-layer mock-ups are created.

We do not have descriptions of the exhibition and individual works of art made in Braille.

During meetings, lectures and conferences, simultaneous text messages – live subtitles are not used. The museum does not use the respeaking method – a speech-to-text recognition and processing system.

7. Visual information

The museum is largely signposted. Visual information in the form of pictograms appear wherever we change the direction of traffic, mark evacuation routes and direct to the most important places – ticket office, toilets and exits.

There are no pictograms in the museum branches in Sztum and Kwidzyn, there are only signs of traffic directions and evacuation routes.

Additional information
Public entity accessibility status report. As of January 1, 2021

Regardless of this, the Castle Museum in Malbork performed accessibility tests of the website using commonly available tools.