Why digital accessibility?
We therefore advise cultural institutions to take their digital accessibility seriously. Did you know that more than 2 million Dutch people have one or more disabilities? With an accessible website, you make culture available to everyone, anytime, anywhere.
What will change for the cultural sector in 2025?
As of June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will take effect. This law for digital accessibility requires, among others, e-commerce services to comply with the established accessibility standards (the so-called WCAG 2.1 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). This also applies to the ticket shops of cultural institutions. The WCAG is a list of requirements for an accessible site. These include rules such as mandatory addition of subtitles and audio descriptions for videos, minimum requirements for color contrasts, clear descriptions for images, and a proper heading structure. These rules ensure that, for example, people who are visually impaired or colorblind can also optimally experience the website.
What obligations and exceptions are there?
The new law requires larger e-commerce services (such as ticket shops) to be digitally accessible. At this moment, it is not yet clear what the exact consequences of this law will be for cultural institutions. We advise responding to this (in steps) and not only improving the accessibility of your ticket pages but also subjecting your entire website to an accessibility test. After all, before a visitor ends up in your shop, they first navigate through your site.
Get started with accessibility right away
Creating and maintaining an accessible website takes time. All stakeholders, editors, designers, and developers need knowledge of the accessibility rules set out in the WCAG. You can have your current website or app technically tested for the accessibility rules by a specialized research agency for accessibility. They will explain which parts do not yet comply and provide improvement advice that you can work on.
Want to know how to make your website digitally accessible? With this article with 5 practical tips, you can make your website more accessible.
Include the WCAG rules as a requirement for your web developer
Are you planning to build a new website or app soon or further develop your existing website or app? Provide the WCAG rules as a starting point and requirement to your web agency. By involving accessibility experts during the design and development process, you save time and money and avoid surprises later on.
Read more about accessibility
The Netherlands has more than 2 million people with a disability. As a cultural organization, you want to bring everyone over the threshold. This starts with digital accessibility. Learn the ins and outs of this topic via the tag Digital Accessibility.
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