Project background, tutorials, updates, licensing, and contact information for rKTs
The databases available through rKTs are compiled and maintained by members of the Tibetan Manuscript Project Vienna (TMPV), based at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. Further information on the project's aims, structure, and team can be found on the TMPV website.
In addition, the site provides open access to a range of project outputs under the section "Dissemination," including academic publications, research data, and documentary films.
The TMPV website also offers updates on recent fieldwork activities (see "Documentation") and features a blog with articles on current developments, including new functionalities and data releases within the rKTs archive.
While the rKTs website is designed to be intuitive, some of its more advanced technical features may not be immediately apparent. The following tutorials provide an introduction to key functions and tools:
In addition, a review by Rachael Griffiths published on The Digital Orientalist remains a useful introduction, although it refers to an earlier version of the rKTs interface.
TMPV is committed to making primary sources and research results openly accessible, while also respecting the rights of contributing institutions and individuals. Users are kindly requested to observe the copyright regulations specified for each individual source.
Unless otherwise indicated, all data (excluding images) provided through the rKTs website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Images of canonical collections made available by TMPV through the rKTs and BUDA (BDRC) platforms are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
The Tibetan Manuscript Project Vienna (TMPV), based at the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, is committed to making its website
www.rkts.org accessible in accordance with the Austrian Federal Act on the Accessibility of
Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies (Web Accessibility Act – Web-
Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz, WZG, Federal Law Gazette I No. 59/2019 as amended).
This accessibility statement applies to the website:
www.rkts.org
This website is partially compliant with Conformance Level AA of the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and with the applicable European Standard EN 301
549 V3.2.1 (2021-03).
In the development and ongoing revision of the website, particular attention is paid to the
following aspects:
- semantically structured HTML content
- identification of language changes using lang attributes
- use of ARIA labels for navigation and interface elements
- keyboard accessibility of core functions wherever possible
- structured and readable page content
The content listed below is currently not fully accessible:
- Images and manuscript photographs:
The database contains a large corpus of historical manuscript images and scholarly visual
materials. Some of these contents do not yet provide adequate text alternatives. Due to the
scale of the collection, suitable alternative texts are being added progressively. (WCAG 2.1:
1.1.1 Non-text Content)
- Multilingual content:
Individual foreign-language passages or special characters may not yet be consistently
marked with appropriate language attributes. In isolated cases, this may result in limitations
for assistive technologies. (WCAG 2.1: 3.1.2 Language of Parts)
- Older content:
Some older contents or database entries may not yet fully comply with current accessibility
requirements.
The accessibility of the website is continuously being improved through ongoing technical
and editorial revisions.
If you encounter barriers when accessing content on this website or require content in an
accessible format, please contact us:
Tibetan Manuscript Project Vienna (TMPV)
Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
University of Vienna
Spitalgasse 2, Campus, Hof 2.7
1090 Vienna
Austria
This statement was prepared in May 2026 on the basis of a self-assessment.
If you are not satisfied with the response to your request, you may contact the complaints
office of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG):
https://www.digitalbarrierefrei.at/en/submit-a-complain
For questions regarding the rKTs database or to report errors, please contact Bruno Lainé at: brunogml@gmail.com