The design and realization of this Internet service is based on the requirements legislators demand of an accessible Internet appearance. Accessibility on the Internet means making the contents of webpages accessible to all without any restrictions. Pages which compensate for users’ physical, sensory and cognitive handicaps as well as technological barriers are deemed accessible. As we see accessibility on the Internet as an ongoing process, we will regularly optimize our web presentation. Further information on accessibility is available on a dedicated website by German public welfare initiative "Aktion Mensch":

The website of NRW.INVEST is tailored to the information and service requirements of its target groups. This is reflected in the menu items of the left hand navigation:

• NRW at a glance
• Important Industries
• Business Guide
• Commercial Sites in NRW

Via the horizontal global navigation, users can access the following areas:

• About us
• Press
• Publications
• Contact

The navigation in the upper right hand corner contains the following items:

• Deutsch: Link to german website
• Home: your fast return to the start page at any time.
• Site Map: an overview of all areas, sections and content of the web presentation.
• Help: information on the structure of the website and selected hints.
• Legal notice: provides contact names and addresses, names the persons responsible for the NRW.INVEST Internet presentation and gives other legal references.

Navigation on this web presentation is straightforward and self-explanatory. The “breadcrumb” navigation in the upper part of the content area lets you see at all times which area you are currently viewing. Clicking the navigation brings you back to the superordinate content level.

Both the start page and the individual target group sections have an additional content area on the right hand side containing important and topical information. The area provides you with useful web links as well as information on central service offers by the state of North Rhine-Westfalia, important industry events and more.

Start your search by clicking on the “Find” button next to your entry. A search word must consist of at least three letters or numbers. You can interlink multiple search terms (“and”) by separating the terms with a blank. The search result will then only display pages which contain all entered terms. Or you can search for fixed word combinations and phrases by putting the words in quotation marks.

This Internet offer was designed to be viewable with minimal technical prerequisites. For security reasons, almost no use has been made of active content such as Java, JavaScript, ActiveX etc. The NRW.INVEST site can be viewed with all common web browsers:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Netscape Navigator
• Mozilla Firefox

We cannot guarantee a completely uniform representation across all browser types and versions. Older versions in particular (e.g. Netscape Navigator 4.7) will lead to deviations from the desired representation.