FYI: Dutch government websites adopt form of WCAG

Hello everyone,

For your information:
Lately, the Dutch parliament has made a major decision about accessibility
of government websites. The Dutch version of the decision can be found here:
http://webrichtlijnen.overheid.nl/besluit/tekst-besluit-en-toelichting/

Translation: (comments marked YPH)

<translation>
Decision quality of government websites

The minister of domestic affairs and Kingdom relations, [equivalent to Home
secretary in the US, YPH]

Considering that the Second Chamber [Dutch parliament, YPH], by motion of
Aasten-Madsen and Fierens of 26 April, has pronounced the wish that
government websites need to be accessible to all citizens,

Considering that it is desired that the federal government harmonizes with
the international guidelines as formulated by the international World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C),

Considering	that Dutch guidelines have been developed to apply these
guidelines in practice,

Acting in accordance with the sentiments of the council of ministers,

Decides:

Article 1
The secretary concerned will ensure that the federal government websites
will comply to the web guidelines, as written down in the appendix to this
decision.

Article 2
1. This decision is effective on 1 September 2006.
2. Existing websites of the Dutch government will comply to the web
guidelines no later than 31 December 2010.

</translation>

The appendix contains these Dutch web guidelines, which are based on WCAG
but go beyond that to ensure content is not only accessible but also usable,
robust and maintainable. 

Examples of things covered by these web guidelines:
* separate of structure and presentation
* use valid code
* do not use deprecated elements
* do not use frames
* do not use layout tables
* use unique, fixed URLs
* conform to WCAG 1.0. 
* indicate required fields
* provide multiple ways to contact the organization (address, telephone,
e-mail)
* allow the user to archive his reaction
* do not use reset buttons on a form
* set up error pages (404s etc) that provide mechanisms to find his way
within the site.

Yvette Hoitink
Heritas, Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands
E-mail: y.p.hoitink@heritas.nl
WWW: http://www.heritas.nl

Received on Monday, 17 July 2006 18:06:21 UTC