Organisation Police Academy website awarded A-status for digital accessibility Written on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 Government organisations must ensure that their websites and apps are digitally accessible. The website of the Netherlands Police Academy (politieacademie.nl) is fully compliant with all accessibility requirements and has therefore been awarded A-status. Currently, only 8% of all government websites in the Netherlands have this status. This status means that politieacademie.nl meets all 55 requirements and complies with the law. But more importantly, it means that the website can be understood and used by everybody. This includes, for example, people with a disability. In the Netherlands, there are about 4.5 million people who have a disability that can make it difficult for them to use a website. This includes people who: are colour blind or have a vision impairment; have difficulty reading or processing information; have a motor impairment which may prevent them from using a mouse or touchscreen. A user-friendly website for everyone Digital accessibility is not only useful for people with a disability. It enhances the user-friendliness of a website for all users. ‘Not just for people with a disability, but for everyone; an accessible website really makes a difference’, according to the Police Academy’s Director, Leonard Kok. ‘Digital accessibility is not a technical issue, it’s about people. It’s about inclusion and ensuring equal access to information. That’s what we’re trying to do on a daily basis. So we’re very happy with this result.’ What we do to make politieacademie.nl digitally accessible The website features various solutions, catering to everyone’s needs. This also makes the website easier to find by search engines. The following features help increase the accessibility of the website: The entire website can be navigated with a keyboard. It has text-to-speech software that allows users to easily search for and listen to all information. All information is written in plain language, and texts are short and conveniently displayed. The website has enough colour contrast, and images and buttons are provided with alternative texts. Videos have subtitles and audio description. Podcasts are also transcribed, so you can read the text while listening. 2025 Website of the Year And we have more good news to share about our website! We have been nominated for the Website of the Year award in the Education & Training category. Will you help us win the title? The votes are open until 17 October.