Monitor accessibility 2021

Together with Accessibility Foundation and FirmGround, we worked this autumn on a major study on the digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of Dutch government agencies. We did this for Logius and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

Read the full study on Rijksoverheid.nl(opens in new window)

Government websites and apps must be digitally accessible

The study looked at the extent to which websites and apps of Dutch government agencies comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Importantly, all websites are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. These websites are usually better for all visitors, including those with disabilities.

A total of 3,072 government websites and 8 apps (Android and/or iOS) were surveyed. This survey was partly carried out automatically. Only the homepage of some websites was examined. 32 websites and 8 mobile apps were examined entirely manually.

The main conclusion of the study is that most government websites and apps are not yet fully compliant with web guidelines.

3024 websites with an accessibility statement

The number of websites with an accessibility statement has grown from 1,683 to 3,024 since 23 September 2020. By no means all websites and apps have on a statement yet.

The accessibility statement is a kind of 'plan of attack', in which the organisation describes what problems exist and what they will do to solve them. The accessibility statement should ensure that public bodies are 'in control' and that digital accessibility is part of the organisation.

Manual examination of 32 websites

In consultation with various organisations, 32 websites were selected for a full manual examination. These were examined by experts from Cardan Technobility. For some websites, a recently conducted survey was used, while others were completely re-examined.

Our research found that websites met an average of 35 out of 50 success criteria. None of the websites surveyed was found to be completely error-free. Some of the problems were partly caused by errors in PDF documents. Excluding these documents, the number of errors is therefore slightly lower. The importance of accessibility of PDF documents was once again demonstrated by this study.

Highlights from the 2021 Digital Accessibility Monitor

We have listed some fun facts from the survey:

  • For only 37% of organisations, digital accessibility is included in the strategic plan

  • Of the over-75s in the Netherlands, only 10% say they don't need help when surfing the internet

  • Of the population over 12 years old, 12% experience one or more limitations in activities related to sight, hearing or mobility.

  • English research shows that 69% of visitors with disabilities drop out if a website is not accessible.

  • Only 4.5% of websites on the accessibility register have A status and should therefore be fully WCAG compliant.

  • The most common problems are related to too low colour contrast, on 45.1% of websites this goes wrong.

  • Our manual research shows that the most problems in websites are in success criterion 1.3.1 (info and relationships) and success criterion 1.1.1 (non-textual content)

  • Testing software can automatically test about 5 to 15% of the success criteria

  • The number of technical errors seems to be decreasing compared to errors in content.

All results from the survey can be read at Rijksoverheid.nl(opens in new window) .

More accessible websites

We are happy to see that more and more organisations see the importance of digital accessibility and that we may help more and more organisations and companies. We prefer to do this together, for example through training, research and advice.

5 tips to improve website accessibility

  1. Include digital accessibility when procuring new digital services.

  2. Find a supplier or partner that has demonstrable experience and knowledge of digital accessibility.

  3. Have employees and suppliers attend a training course.

  4. Already during the design and construction of a new website or app, have our specialists look over your shoulder.

  5. Place an accessibility statement on your website. We are happy to help you with that.

Is digital accessibility new to you? In our awareness meeting, we'll take you through the highlights of digital accessibility in about 2 hours and you'll learn (and experience) how visitors with disabilities use your website or app.