Writing an accessibility statement

What it is

An accessibility statement (in Dutch: toegankelijkheidsverklaring) is a page on your website. On it, you say how well your website or app works for people with a disability. You write down what already works well, what does not yet, and when you will fix it. And you say how someone can get in touch if they get stuck.

A statement is not a quality mark: it also says what does not work yet.

This guide is about the statement itself. You can read how to make your website accessible in Making your website accessible.

Why it matters

Visitors with a disability can read in the statement what works and what does not. Say someone uses a screen reader, software that reads the page aloud. They read in the statement that the registration form does not work properly yet, and how they can register in another way. Then they do not have to try the form first.

For your organisation, it is a way to be accountable. A government organisation uses its statement to account to supervisory bodies, and also to the people who use the website.

Who has to have one

Below is what the rules say. If you are not sure whether a rule applies to your organisation, check with Digitoegankelijk (the Dutch government website on digital accessibility), the ACM (the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets) or a lawyer.

• Government organisations. The Besluit digitale toegankelijkheid overheid (the Dutch decree on digital accessibility for government) requires them to make a statement for all their websites and apps, following a set model, and this includes intranets, extranets and cloud applications. The form of the statement was set by the European Commission in 2018. Bodies governed by public law also fall under the decree: organisations with a task in the public interest that are mainly funded or run by the government, or supervised by it. It is hard to tell whether you are one of them without a lawyer.
• Businesses with certain products and services. Since 28 June 2025, European accessibility rules have applied: the European Accessibility Act. They cover things like online shops, phone and internet contracts, online banking, e-books and ticket machines on public transport. Do you sell something online to consumers, or offer a service for calling, chatting or emailing? Then you must put a statement on your website or in your app that explains how your service meets the rules. The Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM) supervises this. The statement must be easy to find and accessible itself, and you must also offer it in spoken form, for example as an audio clip of the text being read aloud. Very small businesses do not have to make their services accessible: fewer than 10 employees, and an annual turnover of no more than 2 million euros.
• Care and welfare organisations. Care providers do not fall under the decree for government, unless they are a body governed by public law. Social and community organisations do not fall under it either, unless they provide services on behalf of a government organisation. Do you work on behalf of the municipality? Then find out whether this applies to you.

Even without a required statement, the Wet gelijke behandeling op grond van handicap of chronische ziekte (the Dutch Equal Treatment on the Grounds of Disability or Chronic Illness Act) applies. Because of this act, providers of goods and services must make what they offer gradually more accessible, unless that is too much of a burden for them. On top of that, someone with a disability may ask for a reasonable adjustment, so that they can still use your service. A statement shows how you deal with both.

What goes in a statement

The government model and the W3C advice are similar. W3C is the organisation behind WCAG, the international requirements for accessible websites. These parts belong in a statement:

1. What the statement is about. The name and web address of the website or app. Does it include more, such as a separate address for the registration form or the same app for Android and iPhone? Then mention that too.
2. Which requirements you use. For example, WCAG 2.2 level AA.
3. How accessible it is, and how you know. Have you had an audit done? Then link to the report. Have you only checked it yourself? Then say so.
4. What does not work yet. In everyday words. Write that “videos do not have subtitles” rather than giving the number of a requirement.
5. What you are going to do, and when. With a date, and with another way to get it done for as long as the problem exists.
6. How someone can get in touch. An email address or phone number, and how quickly you respond.
7. How someone can make a complaint. A link to your complaints procedure.
8. Who signs it, and when. In government, a director or manager signs the statement as “seen and approved”.

How to do it

1. Decide what the statement covers. Make a list of everything that belongs to your website: pages, forms, PDFs, videos, a client portal. Put web addresses that belong together for the visitor in one statement, and give addresses that have nothing to do with each other a statement of their own.

2. First do a quick check yourself. Go through the accessible website checklist. Try your most important task, such as registering, using only the keyboard. The Keyboard test helps you with this. Check your colours with the Colour-blind view. For each problem, write down where it is and what a visitor cannot do because of it.

3. Have a full audit done if you must or can. Your own check finds a lot, but not everything. For government organisations, only an audit using W3C’s WCAG-EM method counts. Such an audit covers all parts and all types of content, including PDFs and pages behind a login, and all the level A and AA requirements of the WCAG version that applies to government: 50 for WCAG 2.1, 55 for WCAG 2.2. An audit like this is valid for three years at most. So auditing only the technical side, or only the content, is not enough. Are you not a government body? Then this is a good standard to work towards.

4. Write down what works and what does not, in plain language. Describe what a visitor notices. “The registration form does not work with only the keyboard” says more than “success criterion 2.1.1 is not met”, because technical and legal language confuses many readers. Write at language level B1 (everyday language that most adults understand), see Writing at B1 level for your clients.

5. Say what you are going to do, when, and what people can do in the meantime. Give a date you can keep. Also say what someone can already do now: call, email or come in. For example: “The video about registering does not have subtitles yet. They will be added by 1 February 2027 at the latest. Until then, the explanation is also available as text below the video.”

   Add the email address and phone number of a team that really responds, and say within how many working days you will reply. If someone calls because something does not work, sort it out with them over the phone, and then add their report to your plan.

6. Have someone with authority sign it. Ask a director or manager to read and approve the statement. Then the organisation knows what it is promising, and there is someone who makes sure the improvements actually happen.

7. Publish the statement as an ordinary page. Put a link in the footer, so it can be found on every page. Also choose a predictable address, such as jouwwebsite.nl/toegankelijkheid. Government organisations create the statement in the online assistant (invulassistent) on toegankelijkheidsverklaring.nl, and then put the accessibility label on their website. Does your service fall under the rules for businesses? Then also offer the text as an audio clip.

8. Keep it up to date. Update the statement at least once a year, and after every big change. For government organisations with status A or B, this is required every year, and there must be visible progress. Does a government organisation not have a full audit yet, but will it have one done within six months? Then the statement gets status C, which is only valid for six months. If there is still no audit after that, it automatically becomes status D, and the organisation does not comply with the law.

How the Accessibility statement generator helps

With the Accessibility statement generator (in Dutch) you put steps 4 and 5 on paper. You fill in the name of your organisation, and tick what you have already done from a list of twenty improvements, such as descriptions for images, clear headings, enough contrast and working with only the keyboard. You get a PDF with two lists: what you have already done, and what you are still going to work on.

Good to know:

• It is a simple statement in plain language, not the statement that follows the government model. Do you work for a government organisation? Then use the online assistant from Digitoegankelijk.
• You add contact details, your complaints procedure, dates and a link to an audit yourself.
• Also put the text from the PDF on your website as an ordinary page. The PDF has no tags: invisible labels that tell a screen reader what is a heading or a list. So a screen reader does not recognise the structure of the PDF.
• Only tick what you have really done. If you are not sure, leave it unticked.

Points to watch

• Do not promise that everything works. Only write “Our website is fully accessible” if a full audit shows that. Without an audit, write: “We checked it ourselves and found this.”
• Keep the statement true. If it is no longer correct, someone may count on an alternative that no longer exists. Include the date of the last check.
• Look at the scope of a report. Does a supplier send a general audit of their system? Then you have to explain why it also applies to your version. If you have added your own logo and brand colours, you need to have those audited separately.
• Do not forget your documents. For government organisations, all PDFs and other office files put online after 23 September 2018 must be accessible. You can read how to do that in Making accessible documents.
• Ask a lawyer before you give “too expensive” as an exception. Sometimes an organisation may say that a requirement is a disproportionate burden: too heavy compared with what it achieves. Many conditions apply to this.

Questions

Which version of WCAG do I mention? It is wise to work with WCAG 2.2 level AA now, because what meets it also meets 2.1. If you are having something audited or built, ask for 2.2. The audit for government still covers the 50 requirements of WCAG 2.1 level A and AA, until the European Commission officially adopts the new version of the EN 301 549 standard. You can read when that is expected to happen in What is WCAG?

We have no money for an audit. Is a statement still worth it? Yes. Say honestly that you checked it yourself, and what you found. Visitors then know where they stand, and you have a list to work from. For a government organisation it is only an interim step, see step 8.

Find out more

• Making your website accessible: the whole process, from overview to yearly check.
• Making accessible documents
• Accessible website checklist: 20 points to check yourself.
• What is WCAG?: the standard, the levels and the rules in the Netherlands.
• The accessibility statement on Digitoegankelijk ↗ (in Dutch): the model, the statuses and the online assistant for government organisations.
• Accessibility of online shops and communication services on the ACM website ↗ (in Dutch): the rules for businesses.