Digital accessibility: what it is and what the law asks

What is digital accessibility?

Digital accessibility means everyone can use your website: someone who is blind and works with a screen reader, someone who cannot use a mouse, someone who cannot tell colours apart and someone who finds reading hard. It is not about a separate version of your site, but about one site that simply works with the tools your visitor already uses.

The agreements are set out in WCAG, the international guidelines for accessible web content. In Europe those guidelines are anchored in law through the EN 301 549 standard: first for public bodies, and since 2025 for a large part of the business world too. Level AA is the bar you have to clear.

Why this concerns more people than you think

1 in 5

people has a disability that affects how they use a website

2.5 m

people in the Netherlands find reading and writing difficult

55+

the fastest growing group online, often with less sharp eyesight

100%

of your visitors benefit from clear, operable pages

The four principles of WCAG

Perceivable

Information must be possible to see or hear. Think of alt text on images, enough colour contrast and text you can enlarge.

Operable

Everything must work with the keyboard, focus must be visible and there must be no time limits you cannot do anything about.

Understandable

Clear language, predictable navigation, labels on input fields and error messages that explain in words what went wrong.

Robust

The code must be sound, so screen readers and other assistive tools can handle it, including a few years from now.

Who does it apply to?

Public bodies

Municipalities, provinces, water authorities and central government. Websites since 23 September 2020, apps since 23 June 2021. They also publish an accessibility statement.

Webshops and service providers

Since 28 June 2025 through the European Accessibility Act, if you have ten or more employees or more than two million euro in turnover.

Education and healthcare

Publicly funded institutions usually fall under the government rules; private parties meet the requirement through their clients' procurement terms.

Suppliers

If you supply software or a widget to any of the above, the requirement reaches you through the contract.

Public bodies and businesses: two regimes

Topic	Public bodies	Businesses
Which rules	Dutch government accessibility decree	European Accessibility Act
In force since	2020 (sites) and 2021 (apps)	28 June 2025
Standard	EN 301 549 (WCAG AA)	EN 301 549 (WCAG AA)
Statement required	Yes, public in the register	No, but you must inform
Supervision	Monitoring and public dashboard	Consumer authority
Penalty	No fine, but public visibility	Fines up to 900,000 euro

Quick self-test for your own site

Can you operate the whole page using only the Tab key and Enter?

Can you always see where the focus is, with a clear outline?

Does your text have enough contrast with the background?

Does the site still work when you zoom in to 200 percent?

Does every input field have a visible label, not just a grey hint?

Are error messages explained in words rather than only a red border?

How to go about it

Map which rules apply to you and where your site stands today. The self-test above is a start; a full audit follows the WCAG-EM method.

First fix what shuts people out: keyboard operation, labels, contrast and error messages. Then the rest.

Have the result audited independently and record what is still open, with a date by which it will be fixed.

Read on about accessibility

Accessible chatbot and live chat

What makes a chat widget accessible and where most chats fall down.

Chatbot for local and central government

The requirements from the government accessibility decree and what you may ask of a supplier.

Read-aloud for your website

Having text read out: who it helps and why it does not replace a screen reader.

Accessible webshop

The European Accessibility Act for webshops, including the exemption for small businesses.

Frequently asked questions

Which WCAG version should I follow?

The law points to EN 301 549, and that standard currently points to WCAG 2.1 level AA. A new version of the standard with WCAG 2.2 AA exists; as soon as the European Commission cites it, 2.2 applies automatically. So build on 2.2 now and you will not have to redo anything. WCAG 2.2 contains everything from 2.1.

Is a separate accessible version of my site allowed?

That is not a good route. A second version falls behind and gives people with a disability a stripped-down site. The aim is one site that works with every assistive tool. The same goes for accessibility overlays: they do not fix the underlying code.

Do I have to publish an accessibility statement?

Public bodies do, and that statement is public in the register with a status from A to E. Businesses do not have to file a statement in that register, but they do have to provide information about how their service meets the requirements.

What if I do not meet everything yet?

Then an honest plan is the right step: name what does not comply, what you are doing about it and when it will be done. For public bodies that is even a valid status in the register. Doing nothing and saying nothing is the worst scenario.

Can an automated scan prove that I comply?

No. A scanner finds at best part of the problems; most of them have to be judged by a person, with a screen reader and with the keyboard. Use scanners to spot issues quickly, not as evidence.

Digital accessibility explained