WCAG 2.2 AA Partial Audit of the Valkenswaard Website Content

This sub-study pertains exclusively to the content of the website that the organization can enter or modify via the content management system.

This study evaluated 30 of the 55 success criteria of WCAG 2.2 Levels A and AA.

The remaining 25 success criteria relate to the technical aspects of the website and are evaluated in the separate technical sub-study.

Together, these two sub-studies constitute the complete evaluation of the website.

Success criteria assessed in the technical sub-study

The following success criteria were not evaluated in this content study and are covered in the separate technical sub-study:

The study was conducted using a representative sample. Within this sample, the accessibility issues identified were described as specifically as possible. Where possible, recommendations were included to address the issues.

This study does not provide an exhaustive overview of all possible accessibility issues. The findings represent a snapshot of the situation at the time of the study.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are internationally recognized guidelines for digital accessibility, based on four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. Measurable success criteria have been established within these principles.
More information: WCAG 2.2 (Dutch translation)

The table below shows, for each WCAG principle and each WCAG level, how many success criteria were tested and how many of those were approved.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/de-groote-meer

Under the heading "De Groote Meer: Then and Now," two photos are displayed side by side, showing the situation before and after the restoration. The caption beneath the photos only states when they were taken ("De Groote Meer in early 2025" and "De Groote Meer in March 2026"), but does not describe what is shown in the photos. As a result, blind or visually impaired users miss the difference between the overgrown, densely vegetated state of early 2025 and the restored, open pond of March 2026, even though this difference is precisely the core of the story on this page.

Advice

Add a caption below each photo with a brief description of what is shown. For example, "De Groote Meer in early 2025: the pond is largely overgrown with reeds and plants; the water is barely visible" and "De Groote Meer in March 2026: the pond is open water again, with sandy banks and woods in the background."

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/samenstelling-gemeenteraad

The page features a group photo of the city council. The image has an empty alt text, causing assistive technology to skip over it. As a result, users of assistive technology miss the information that there is a group photo of the city council on the page.

Advice

Provide a text alternative for the group photo, such as "Group photo of the Valkenswaard City Council."

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toestemmingsformulier%20reisdocument%20minderjarige.pdf?cb=DAw146Bh

The Valkenswaard municipal logo appears at the top of the PDF document. The logo has no text alternative and is not announced by assistive technology. As a result, screen reader users do not know that the document is from the municipality of Valkenswaard.

Advice

Provide a text alternative for the logo, such as "Valkenswaard Municipality Logo".

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/de-groote-meer

The page features a video under the heading "De Groote Meer: An Impression of the Atmosphere." The video has automatically generated subtitles from YouTube. The text contains errors that misrepresent the content. Examples in the video:

0:37 "paralyze" when the correct term is "silt up" 0:53 "dredge the lake" when the correct term is "dredge out the lake" 0:55 "within a short time" when the correct term is "in no time" 1:13 "bat" when the correct term is "bats"

Automatically generated captions are usually not reliable enough to serve as an accessible alternative for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Advice

Use the automatically generated subtitles as a starting point and correct any errors. Make sure the subtitles accurately reflect the spoken dialogue, including important sounds and speaker identification where relevant.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/gemeente-aan-de-slag-met-het-kappen-van-zieke-en-dode-bomen

The page features a video under the heading "Want to know more?" In the video, Paul van Werde (tree care specialist) and a voice-over take turns speaking. The subtitles do not indicate who is speaking at any given moment. As a result, viewers who follow the video solely through the subtitles cannot tell whether the text is coming from Paul van Werde or the voice-over.

Advice

Always indicate in the subtitles who is speaking, for example by displaying a speaker label at the start of a new speaker's line ("Paul van Werde:" or "Voice-over:").

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/de-groote-meer

On the page, under the heading "De Groote Meer: An Impression of the Atmosphere," there is a video that includes visual information:

At 0:07, a name tag appears on screen reading "Project Manager Daan, Municipality of Valkenswaard"; this information is not mentioned audibly

This information is not audible and is therefore not accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. Please ensure that an alternative to this visual information is provided. There is ample space in this video to add audio description.

Advice

For Success Criterion 1.2.3, there are two options: a transcript or audio description. However, for Success Criterion 1.2.5, a transcript is no longer permitted if there is sufficient space for audio description. In that case, audio description must be provided to meet Level AA. It is best to provide both a transcript and audio description.

The transcript must include all information in the video, both audible and visual. Where possible, the transcript should also include timestamps. Place the transcript below the video. A transcript can be beneficial for many people. For some, the information in a video may move too quickly, in which case a transcript can be a good alternative. People who are both deaf and blind can convert a transcript into Braille.

Audio description ensures that all visual information is also conveyed audibly. In other words: hear everything you see. This can be achieved by adding a second audio track to the video that includes both the standard audio and the audio description. Other solutions are also possible.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/gemeente-aan-de-slag-met-het-kappen-van-zieke-en-dode-bomen

On the page, under the heading "Want to know more?", there is a video that includes visual information:

At 0:05, a name tag appears on screen reading "Paul van Werde, Tree Care Specialist for the Municipality of Valkenswaard"; this information is not mentioned audibly. At the end, the logo of the Municipality of Valkenswaard appears on screen; this is not mentioned audibly.

This information is not audible and is therefore not accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. Please ensure that an alternative to this visual information is provided. There is ample space in this video to add audio description.

Advice

For Success Criterion 1.2.3, there are two options: a transcript or audio description. However, for Success Criterion 1.2.5, a transcript is no longer permitted if there is sufficient space for audio description. In that case, audio description must be provided to meet Level AA. It is best to provide both a transcript and audio description.

The transcript must include all information in the video, both audible and visual. Where possible, the transcript should also include timestamps. Place the transcript below the video. A transcript can be beneficial for many people. For some, the information in a video may move too quickly, in which case a transcript can be a good alternative. People who are both deaf and blind can convert a transcript into Braille.

Audio description ensures that all visual information is also conveyed audibly. In other words: hear everything you see. This can be achieved by adding a second audio track to the video that includes both the standard audio and the audio description. Other solutions are also possible.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/de-groote-meer

On the page, under the heading "De Groote Meer: A Glimpse of the Atmosphere," there is a video with visual information:

At 0:07, a name tag appears on screen reading "Project Manager Daan, Municipality of Valkenswaard"; this information is not mentioned audibly

This information is not accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired, so an alternative must be provided.

Advice

For this success criterion, audio description is required (Level AA), provided there is sufficient space in the standard audio track to include this information. There is sufficient space for this in this video. A media alternative is no longer permitted as a solution here.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/gemeente-aan-de-slag-met-het-kappen-van-zieke-en-dode-bomen

On the page, under the heading "Want to know more?", there is a video with visual information:

At 0:05, a name tag appears on screen reading "Paul van Werde, Tree Care Specialist for the Municipality of Valkenswaard"; this information is not mentioned audibly. At the end, the logo of the Municipality of Valkenswaard appears on screen; this is not mentioned audibly.

This information is not accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired, so an alternative must be provided.

Advice

For this success criterion, audio description is required (Level AA), provided there is sufficient space in the standard audio track to include this information. There is sufficient space for this in this video. A media alternative is no longer permitted as a solution here.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/

In the footer, under the heading "Social Media," there is a row of links to Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Visually, this appears as a list, but in the code, the links are listed one after another in a paragraph (p element) rather than in a list (ul with li). As a result, assistive technology cannot identify that this is a list or determine how many items it contains.

Advice

Place the social media links in an unordered list, with each link in its own list item. In the source code, add the "horizontal" class to the `ul` element to display the list horizontally.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/

The footer contains the headings "Visiting Address," "Mailing Address," "Social Media," and "More Information" as level 3 headings. There is no h2 heading on the page that logically contains these headings. As a result, these headings appear in the structure to be subordinate to an earlier heading on the page, even though they do not belong to it in terms of content.

Advice

Mark the headings in the footer as h2 so that the heading structure on the page does not skip a level and assistive technology announces the footer sections at the correct level.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/contact-met-de-gemeente

On the page, under the heading "Contact the Municipality," there is a block containing two instructions, followed by three buttons ("Make an Appointment," "Submit a Report," and "Ask a Question"). The two instructional sentences are written in the code as a list, even though they are not a list but two separate paragraphs. The three buttons are listed one after another in a single paragraph, even though they visually form a list. As a result, assistive software identifies a list where there isn’t one, while simultaneously failing to recognize the list that is actually visible.

Advice

Place the two instructions in separate paragraphs. Place the three buttons below them in a list, with each button as a separate item.

• https://www.valkenswaard.nl/bedrijf-of-beroep-aan-huis
• https://www.valkenswaard.nl/nevenfuncties-college

On this page, all headings below the page title are formatted as H3 headings. This confuses screen reader users because they don’t see an H2 heading where it should be.

Advice

Mark the headings on this page as h2 so that the heading structure starts at the correct level immediately below the h1 and no level is skipped.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/nevenfuncties-college

The page features a table for each faculty member, with a portrait photo on the left and their name, phone number, and email address on the right. This table is used solely for layout purposes and does not contain any tabular data. Screen readers announce this table as a "table with 1 row and 2 columns," even though visually it is simply a block containing a photo and contact information.

Advice

Do not use a table for the photo and name combination. The table with additional roles below can remain as is.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/denk-mee-via-ons-valkenswaard

The page contains two main headings ("Topics Discussed in the Residents' Panel" and "After its launch in 2022, the panel shared its views on the following topics"), each of which contains several accordions. Both these main headings and the headings within the accordions ("2023 and 2024", "May 2022 – Meeting...", "June 2022 – Questionnaire..." and so on) are marked as h2 in the code. As a result, the accordion content is at the same level as the main heading, even though it is subordinate to it in terms of content.

Advice

Two options:

Mark the headings within the accordions as h3, so that they are one level below the parent h2 and the heading structure reflects the content hierarchy. Alternatively, remove the heading elements within the summary and let the summary consist solely of the button text. The accordion will then be announced as a button by assistive technology without any additional heading designation.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toestemmingsformulier%20reisdocument%20minderjarige.pdf?cb=DAw146Bh

In the PDF "Consent Form for Issuance of Travel Document to a Minor," the visual headings are not marked as heading tags. The main title "Consent Form for Issuing a Travel Document to a Minor" and the green section bars "Signatory(ies)" and "Consent" appear in the tag tree as P elements (paragraphs), not as H1 or H2. As a result, assistive software cannot read the heading structure of the PDF aloud, and users cannot quickly navigate through the sections.

Advice

Mark the main title as H1 and the section headings "Signatory(ies)" and "Consent" as H2. This ensures that the heading structure of the PDF matches the visual layout, allowing assistive technology to announce the sections as headings.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toestemmingsformulier%20reisdocument%20minderjarige.pdf?cb=DAw146Bh

In the PDF document, under the heading "Consent," there is a list with two options: "Dutch Passport" and "Dutch ID Card." Each option is preceded by a circle that functions as a checkbox. In the document’s structure, this circle is represented by the letter “o,” causing assistive software to read it as “o Dutch Passport.” As a result, screen reader users do not recognize that this is a selection option and do not understand the purpose of the circle.

Advice

Replace the circle with an actual checkbox or format the options as a drop-down list so that assistive technology can announce that these are checkable options.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toestemmingsformulier%20reisdocument%20minderjarige.pdf?cb=DAw146Bh

The PDF document contains two tables under the headings "Signatory(ies)" and "Consent." The left column contains labels ("Name of Parent 1/Guardian," "Date of Birth," "Name of Minor," etc.), while the right column provides space to fill in the requested information by hand. In the PDF’s structure, these tables are formatted as if there were column headers at the top, even though there aren’t any. As a result, it is unclear to assistive software what constitutes a header and what constitutes a field to be filled in. Furthermore, there is no indication that the words on the left are intended as labels for the fields next to them.

Advice

In both tables, highlight the words on the left (such as "Name of Parent 1/Guardian" and "Name of Minor") as row headers next to the corresponding fields.

• https://www.valkenswaard.nl/bedrijf-of-beroep-aan-huis
• https://www.valkenswaard.nl/hulp-bij-geldzorgen-werk-en-inkomen

On these pages, headings include a `strong` element to display the text in bold. On the "Home-Based Business or Profession" page, this applies to all headings under the page title. On the "Help with Financial Worries, Work, and Income" page, this applies to the headings "Contacting the Municipality," "In-Person Contact," and "Online Contact." The `strong` element is not necessary because a heading already has sufficient semantic meaning.

Advice

Remove the `strong` elements from the headings.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toestemmingsformulier%20reisdocument%20minderjarige.pdf?cb=DAw146Bh

Under the heading "Signature," there are two columns displayed side by side: on the left, "Signature of Parent/Guardian 1" with a date field below it, and on the right, "Signature of Parent/Guardian 2" with a date field below it. In the reading order of the PDF, both "Parent’s signature" lines appear first, one after the other, followed by both "/guardian 1" and "/guardian 2" lines, and the same applies to the date fields below them. As a result, the columns are not read aloud correctly by assistive software.

Advice

Adjust the reading order so that the entire left column is read aloud first, followed by the entire right column.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/form/contactformulier/vraag-stellen-1

The "International Phone Number" field in the form is set as a numeric field. This is not the correct choice for a phone number: plus signs (required for international country codes) and leading zeros are not processed correctly. In addition, the field is missing the "tel" autocomplete attribute, which prevents the browser from automatically filling in the field.

Advice

Select the correct field with the "tel" autocomplete attribute. This ensures that the field works correctly with international phone numbers and allows the browser to autofill the field.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toekomstvisie_2040_gemeente_valkenswaard.pdf?cb=F4QEar4L

The headings in the document are displayed in a reddish-peach color (#F16164). This color is used on both a white background (#FFFFFF) and a beige background (#EAE4D1), for example in the beige text blocks under topics such as “Economy,” “Mobility,” and “Society.” In both cases, the contrast ratio is 2.2:1, whereas a minimum of 3:1 is required for large text and 4.5:1 for regular text. As a result, the headings are difficult to read for users with low vision.

Advice

Adjust the color of the headings so that the contrast with both backgrounds (white and the beige shade) is at least 4.5:1 (or at least 3:1 if the headings meet the criteria for "large text": at least 18 points, or at least 14 points for bold text). A darker shade of red or a similar color from the brand guidelines may provide sufficient contrast.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toekomstvisie_2040_gemeente_valkenswaard.pdf?cb=F4QEar4L

The PDF document "Vision for the Future 2040" consists entirely of images. The text in the document is part of those images and is not included as actual text within the document. As a result, assistive technology cannot read the content aloud from the document itself, and users cannot enlarge, copy, or adjust the font of the text.

Advice

Recreate the PDF document from the source document so that the content is available as plain text.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toestemmingsformulier%20reisdocument%20minderjarige.pdf?cb=DAw146Bh

The page title of the PDF document is "Consent Form for Issuance of Travel Document." The title displayed on the first page is "Consent Form for Issuance of Travel Document to a Minor." Because the phrase "to a minor" is missing from the page title, users are unaware that the document specifically concerns minors.

Advice

Please update the page title to "Consent Form for Issuing a Travel Document to a Minor" so that it matches the title displayed on the first page.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toekomstvisie_2040_gemeente_valkenswaard.pdf?cb=F4QEar4L

The PDF's document properties list the title as "Toekomstvisie B5 WT.indd." This is the internal filename of the Adobe InDesign source file, not a human-readable title that describes the document's content. Assistive technology and the browser tab title display this internal name, leaving users unsure of what the document is about.

Advice

Update the title in the document properties to a descriptive title, such as "Valkenswaard Municipality Vision 2040." Additionally, under "Display on Open," set the option so that the document title is displayed instead of the file name, ensuring that the descriptive title is actually visible in the browser tab and in Acrobat.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/contact-met-de-gemeente

On the page, under the heading "Ask your question using the online form," there is a link labeled "Ask a question." The link appears in its own paragraph, with no context in the same paragraph. As a result, assistive technology cannot announce where the link leads when navigating through the list of links.

Advice

Make it clear in the link text itself where the link leads, for example, "Ask a question via the contact form." Or place the link within a paragraph that provides context. Another solution is to add an icon with the aria-label "form," such as the "Ask a question" button under the heading "Contact the municipality" on this same page.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/hulp-bij-geldzorgen-werk-en-inkomen

Under the heading "Personal Contact," the text reads "Call 040 208 35 31." The link text is a phone number, but the link does not lead to a call-to-action or to a page of the municipality of Valkenswaard. Instead, the link opens the website of the municipality of Cranendonck (www.cranendonck.nl). As a result, when a user clicks on the phone number, they are unexpectedly directed to the website of another municipality.

Advice

Replace the link so that the phone number can be dialed directly when clicked.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/wegwerkzaamheden-en-verkeersinformatie

Under the heading "Master Plan for the City Center," there is a link labeled "More information." The link appears in its own paragraph, with no context in the same paragraph. As a result, assistive technology cannot announce where the link leads when navigating the list of links.

Advice

Make it clear in the link text itself where the link leads, for example, "More information about the Downtown Master Plan," or place the link within a paragraph that provides context.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/reuzenbalsemien-sprinbalsemien

On the page, under the heading "Giant Impatiens / Spring Impatiens," there is a gallery with two images. When an image is enlarged, the filename ("rb1.png" or "rb2.png") appears as a caption for the image. The same occurs in the accessibility name of the link to the image ("View image: rb1.png"). For both sighted users and screen reader users, a filename is not useful information.

Advice

In the enlarged view, replace the file name with a brief description of what is shown in the photo. If the image does not add any information to the text on the page, use a regular image instead of a gallery.

https://cuatro.sim-cdn.nl/valkenswaard/uploads/toekomstvisie_2040_gemeente_valkenswaard.pdf?cb=F4QEar4L

In the PDF "Vision for 2040," no language has been specified in the document properties. As a result, assistive software cannot determine the language of the text, and the content may be read aloud with incorrect pronunciation.

Advice

In the document properties, under "Advanced," set the language to "Dutch." This ensures that assistive software automatically uses the Dutch pronunciation when reading the document aloud.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/verhuizen

Below the Dutch explanation on the page, there is an English translation followed by an English sentence about contacting us by phone. The page is marked as Dutch in the code, but these English passages do not have their own language designation. As a result, assistive technology reads the English text aloud using the Dutch pronunciation, making the text unintelligible to screen readers.

Advice

Mark the English passages with a "lang" attribute, for example by placing the two English paragraphs within an element with lang="en". This way, assistive technology will automatically switch to the English pronunciation when reading aloud.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/

In the footer, under the heading "Visiting Address," the visiting address and phone number are listed in a single paragraph. As a result, screen reader users cannot distinguish the visiting address and phone number as separate items.

Under the heading "Mailing Address," the mailing address and email address are listed in a single paragraph. As a result, screen reader users cannot distinguish the mailing address and email address as separate elements.

Advice

Consider listing the address and phone number (under "Visiting Address") and the address and email address (under "Mailing Address") as separate entries, so that they can be identified independently within the code.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/nieuwsberichten

The overview page contains twelve news cards. Eleven of these cards have a title formatted as an h2 heading, followed by a date and a short introductory text (teaser). The card "Join Mental Health Week – How do you stay mentally fit?" is different: the title is a regular link instead of an h2, and there is no introductory text below the title.

Advice

Format this news card the same way as the other cards: mark the title as an h2 and add a short introductory text below the title.

The website offers a high-contrast version. This can be enabled using a "contrast switch." This success criterion has been fully tested in high-contrast mode. The high-contrast version is considered an alternative to the standard version.

This may cause contrast issues in the standard version. These issues have not been further evaluated.

Advice

We recommend ensuring that the standard version also includes sufficient color contrast in all text. This improves the website’s accessibility for visitors with visual impairments.

Texts with sufficient color contrast are also easier for all readers to read. This makes reading less taxing, requires less energy, and is (subconsciously) perceived as more enjoyable. As a result, readers are more likely to take action.

The high-contrast version can then be used to provide "enhanced contrast," thereby meeting the WCAG 1.4.6 Enhanced Contrast success criterion (Level AAA).

A high-contrast version is available on the website. It can be enabled using a "contrast switch."
This success criterion has been fully tested in high-contrast mode. The high-contrast version is considered an alternative to the standard version.
As a result, there may be contrast issues with graphic elements in the standard version. These have not been further evaluated.

A notable example on the homepage: the warning icon (triangle with an exclamation mark) in the green bar next to the message "Adjusted town hall opening hours" has a contrast ratio of 1.6:1 with the green background in the standard view (icon #237A2D on #165720). In the high-contrast version, however, this icon is clearly visible.

Advice

We recommend ensuring that the standard version also provides sufficient contrast for graphic elements, such as icons, buttons, and form fields. This improves the website’s accessibility for visitors with visual impairments.
The high-contrast version can then be used to provide “enhanced contrast.”

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/paspoort-tot-18-jaar

Under Step 4, there is a button labeled "Download the written consent here," followed by an icon that screen readers describe as "form." However, the link leads to a non-fillable PDF document that must be printed out and filled in by hand. For users, the label "form" gives the impression that it is an online or fillable form, whereas in reality it is a printable PDF document.

Advice

Edit the link text to make it clear that this is a printable PDF document, for example, "Download the written consent form (PDF, for printing and filling out)." If the "form" icon is confusing, replace or remove it.

https://www.valkenswaard.nl/nevenfuncties-college

On the page, the email address "bestuurssecretariaat@valkenswaard.nl" appears next to each board member. In the code, this address is split into two separate links: the first letter "b" is in its own link, and the remaining text "estuurssecretariaat@valkenswaard.nl" is in a second link. Assistive software identifies these two separate links and reads them as distinct parts, preventing users from recognizing the email address as a single, coherent element.

Advice

Combine the email addresses into a single link.