Accessibility statement

  • Edited 2 November 2022
  • 6 min

Everyone should be able to easily use and view our website.

Name of the websiteKVK
Government bodyNetherlands Chamber of Commerce
Accessibility statusFirst measures implemented
Appeal to 'disproportionate burden'?Yes
Accessibility issue?Report it. Go to 'Een klacht indienen'
Date of the statement25-07-2020

Statement

KVK strives to make its online information and services accessible, in accordance with the Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government). This accessibility statement applies to the content of the KVK website.

An overview of all KVK Netherlands accessibility statements is available.

Compliance status: first steps taken

KVK declares that the first steps have been taken to make the KVK website compliant with the Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government).
In the notes, under the heading ‘substantiation of the statement’, KVK outlines what it has already done to improve the accessibility of KVK and what necessary measures are being taken to make the website more accessible.
The characteristics of the different statuses are described in the notes, under the heading Explanation of compliance statuses.

Agreement

This statement was read, approved, and signed on 23-09-2020 by a signing officer of KVK.
Job title/Position: Board Member.
The currency, completeness, and accuracy of this statement were last reviewed on 25-05-2020.

Feedback and contact details

If you encounter an accessibility issue or have a question or comment about accessibility, send us your question or comment (in Dutch) or contact the Service Centre at 088 – 5851585, option 2.

What can you expect from us?

  • You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt within 5 business days.
  • We will keep you updated of the processing of your question or comment and the outcome.
  • Your request will be processed within 3 weeks.

Enforcement procedure

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint was handled or if we did not respond in time, please contact the National Ombudsman (in Dutch).

Basis of Accessibility statement

Research results

  • The status of KVK website: first measurement taken.
    (Under header Explanation about compliance status, characteristics of different statuses are described).
  • The accessibility of KVK website has been investigated.
    • An external accessibility test has been done mid July 2020.
    • No accessibility test has been planned.

Deviations from the accessibility standard

KVK strives to make www.kvk.nl completely compliant with the criteria of success. However there are practical situations in which this is not the case. In the following list you find our explanations for this.

1. SC 1.3.1 - Info and relations [level A]

  • Cause: The search bar in the header has no name. See https://www.kvk.nl/ This search bar is visible in the browser Google Chrome, but not in Mozilla Firefox.
  • Effect: All information that is visual, must also be in text or semantic (in meaningful code). This way the information can also be available for blind visitors.
  • Alternative: -
  • Measurement: Will be fixed 23 September.

2. Planning for implementing measurement: 23-09-2020

The planning has been done, there is a new planning for realisation of explains available on 23-09-2021.

Other accessibility issues [1]

(Nothing noted)

Disproportionate burden

KVK admits it does not comply with all rquirements of the Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government) (Tijdelijk besluit digitale toegankelijkheid overheid), because the expected benefits of implementing one or more requirements from the decision is disproportionate to the organizational or financial effort it costs. Under the header deviations of the accessibility standard this is explained further by KVK.

General explanation

Explanation about status of compliance

On websites and mobile apps one of the following statuses applies:

  • A: complies completely
  • B: complies partially
  • C: first measurements taken
  • D: does not comply

The statuses have specific characteristics, that are explained further in the table below.

If a government agency does not publish an accessibility statement that complies with the requirements of the model accessibility statement after the entry into force of the legal obligation, there is a case of failure to comply.

Compliance statuses
Characteristic A  B C D
A complete research has been conducted. Characteristics of this research are:    
Research has been conducted on the basis of the research method WCAG-EM[2] and, the research results are recent, complete and correct and, the research results are no older than 24 months. -  Yes No  No 
For the (semi-)automatic tests, there is a testing instrument based on algorithms that are documented in the ACT Rules Format. -  Yes No No
All research results are written in an accurate, clear and repeatable manner in a readable format for people, or in the format EARL for machines. -  Yes  No No
The (combined) research results     
Are representative for all content on the main domain and any sub- and other domains that are mentioned in the statement. -  Yes No No
Include all requirements from the European acessibility norm and 301 549. The requirements for websites, apps and downloadable documents in this norm are similar to level A and AA succes criteria of the worldwide implemented accessibility standard WCAG 2.1. -  Yes No No
During conducting the research, no deviations are found from the accessibility standard, or deviations are removed before the research was finished. -  No No No
The government agency declares that the website or mobile app complies completely with the accessibility standard on the basis of the research results. -  No No No
During conduction research deviations from the accessibility statement have been found. For all deviations the following applies: -  Yes No No
All deviations are mentioned. For each deviation, the cause is described and the effects for people with a disability is described. -  Yes No No
In addition, improvements are mentioned, any alternatives and a planning for those measurements. -  Yes No No
The government agency declares that the necessary measurements have been taken to make the website or mobile app comply with the accessibility standard on the basis of research results. -  Yes No No
The government agency is in control because of that. -  Yes No No
Research has been planned on the basis of WCAG-EM[2] to get complete and accurate results.  -  - Yes No
The government agency declares that the first steps have been made to make the website or mobile app comply with the accessibility standard.  -  -  Yes No

 

[1]: This is also the case if the research to the accessability of website or mobile app has only been conducted with an automatic testing instrument. With such instruments less than 20 per cent of the requirements can be reliably conducted.   
[2]: WCAG-EM or an equivalent, documented evaluation method for the accessibility standard WCAG 2.1.

Explanation about disproportionate burden

The Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government) allows government agencies to disregard requirements of the accessibility standard - temporarly -  if this is disproportionatly burdensome for them.  

The opt-out option, 'disproportionate burden' should be treated with caution; a government agency lacking priority, time or knowledge are no legitemate reasons to not apply the accessibility standard. If a government agency thinks there is a disproportionate burden, then that is mentioned in the deviations in the accessibility statement. The government agency must offer an accessible alternative, for example by offering an accessible text version of a PDF document, or by offering in-person support instead of digital support. Also when complete digital accessibility is not feasible (yet) the content on the website or app has to be as accessible as possible.

For the formal legal text, see article 3, paragraph 2 until 4 (in Dutch) and the elaboration on article 3 (in Dutch) of the Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government).

Content that is outside the scope of the Decision

The Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government) does not include the following content on websites and mobile applications:

  • Office file formats that have been published before 23 September 2018, unless that type of content is needed for active administrative processes with regards to the tasks of the government agency.
  • Included beforehand, time- based media that has been published before 23 September 2020.
  • Live broadcasted, time- based media.
  • Online maps and online map services, if essential information on navigation maps is offered in an accessible, digital way.
  • Content from third parties that is not funded or developed by the involved government agency and is not the responsibility of  the involved government agency.
  • Reproductions of content from heritage collections that can not be made completely accessible for reasons such as storage, authenticity or absence of automated and cost-efficient manners to achieve accessibility.
  • Content that is only accessible for a closed group and is published before 23 September 2019 until the website is revised. 
  • Content of websites and mobile applications that are not necessary for active administrative processes and that is not updated after 23 September 2019.

Source: Article 2, second paragraph of the Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility (Government) (in Dutch)

Links to sources

In this declaration there are references to several sources. The following list contains links to those sources.