Planned investigations: “Kaufhaus Österreich” failed due to opposition – Wien Aktuell

The malice in “Austria department stores” unveiled on Monday by Economy Minister Margarete Schramböck (ÖVP) and WKÖ President Harald Mahrer to support Austrian online retailers continues. SPÖ, FPÖ and NEOS announced parliamentary questions. The costs incurred are of special interest. On social media, users scoff at dubious search results and poor usability.

“To produce beyond the users, that has to come to mind,” SPÖ cultural spokesperson Thomas Drozda told APA on Tuesday. Federal FPÖ party leader Norbert Hofer spoke in a broadcast of a “shameful online shopping portal that Amazon & Co probably won’t make you sweat.” NEOS economics spokesman Sepp Schellhorn wants to know to what extent “Austria department stores” help distributors who do not have a web store.

The three opposition parties announced a parliamentary question. The SPÖ wants to know, for example, who is responsible for this website, how much it costs, if there is a call for tenders, which agency was awarded the contract and according to what criteria the contract was awarded. “It would not be surprising if a company with ÖVP connections was hired for the design and programming of the home page,” said Hofer. The FPÖ will submit an application for this and the costs incurred.

NEOS wants to know from the Minister of the Economy Schramböck how the idea came about, how much money was invested up to the start and what budget is provided to market the site. Schellhorn suspects that for the website “apparently the money from the chamber was also spent on nothing more than a misguided extension of the ‘ABC company'”, especially since it involves a cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Ministry of Digitization. and Commercial Location. Instead of collecting links, it would have been better to have more money on hand to expand web stores, NEOS EPU spokesperson Henrike Brandstötter admitted.

The virtual department store was programmed by the state federal computer center, the media owners of the website are the Ministry of Economy and the Chamber of Commerce, the Internet domain belongs to the Ministry of Economy. The Chamber of Commerce is responsible for running the website, Schramböck and Mahrer said at a press conference on Monday.

The currently highly criticized online retail directory “Kaufhaus Österreich” by the Economy Ministry and the Chamber of Commerce cost a total of 627,000 euros, the Economy Ministry announced to the APA on Tuesday. Treatment was carried out under existing framework agreements. The website was launched to support Austrian trade, especially in times of lockdown, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Ease of use is being worked on.

The virtual department store was programmed by the federal state computer center, the media owners of the website are the Ministry of Economy and the Chamber of Commerce, the Internet domain belongs to the Ministry of Economy. The Ministry of Economy is responsible for managing the website. The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber supported the ministry through AZ company to request retailers to register with the “Austria Department Store”. So far, around 1,000 online retailers are listed.

The testers found that the online dealer directory has yet to pass the practical test. For example, those searching for “shoes” on the site will see a table tennis store, a mountain farmers site, and a children’s clothing offering as their first preferences, type the “Standard”. As a Viennese prospect, bikes are mainly offered in Salzburg and Vorarlberg, despite being limited to a radius of 50 kilometers. A self-experiment by the FPÖ revealed that anyone who enters the word “television” in the search mask will be directed to a supplier of grill systems or an online shop for boats and electric motors. A search query for “toys” leads the customer to “organic dog accessories made from natural materials”.

The website also takes you to the pages of companies that redirect customers to the Amazon marketplace, which is exactly what the initiators really wanted to avoid.

The portal also received criticism on Tuesday because, since October, the websites of public authorities should have been barrier-free. “There are still transitional regulations, for municipalities, for example, but one should expect an institution like the Chamber of Commerce to adhere to at least minimum standards,” Georg Wimmer from Salzburg, an expert on “language easily,” told APA. understandable”.

Therefore, the content of a website must be “understandable” for people with disabilities, learning difficulties or a low educational level. In fact, “Kaufhaus Österreich” says under the menu item “Accessibility”: “The Federal Ministry of Digitization and Business Location strives to ensure that its websites and mobile applications comply with the federal law on barrier-free access to sites. federal web and mobile applications (…) so that it has no barriers. ” “Is it worse?” Asks Wimmer. “You write that you don’t keep things yourself and ask yourself: Why not?” They are also simple technical solutions that are standard today, such as the ability to increase font sizes or contrasts. “An agency commissioned by the government should be able to do that.”