‘Many government sites are insufficiently accessible for people with disabilities’
Based on their own research, two experts in the field of digital accessibility state that a large part of the 7,000 government websites are insufficiently accessible for people with a disability. For example, it concerns low vision, blindness and color blindness.
The researchers Jules Ernst and Ron Beenen have investigated 2000 government websites that have placed a so-called accessibility statement in the Logius register. These are statements with which the government identifies whether the sites are accessible. Based on their own research, the researchers state that of these 2000 websites, only 70 sites are adequate.
The researchers conclude that about 5000 of the 7000 government websites are not included in the register, so that there is no clear view of accessibility. Beenen argues that the lack of this formal online statement is a sign that digital accessibility is not considered very important. According to him, this subject often does exist in the workplace, but it is not yet sufficiently the case as an administrative responsibility.
A number of examples are given, such as the site of the police. According to the research, the reporting process for filing a crime online is very inaccessible and virtually impossible for people with a visual impairment who depend on a keyboard. And the site coronatest.nl has, according to its own statement, fifteen deviations that should be resolved by January 1, 2021.
The researchers emphasize that governments already agreed in 2008 to make websites accessible and the legal obligation has been known since 1 July 2018. They therefore find it worrying that in many cases this is not yet complied with. In accordance with the Government Digital Accessibility Decree, all sites of all government bodies must comply with the legal obligations from Wednesday. These rules oblige government organizations to make their sites and apps accessible to people with disabilities and they must also make a statement about this. To this end, an accessibility standard must be applied. Incidentally, this Decree is based on the European Accessibility Directive.
Researcher and developer Jules Ernst points to the shared responsibility of both government and website builders. “Website builders who work for many government organizations are important. If suppliers build accessible, this immediately results in improvement for many users. They should be familiar with the requirements that are placed on their software. Government organizations must of course also take their own responsibility. are now finding out that they are dealing with a proliferation of websites, where you can wonder whether all those separate websites are needed. “