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The Netherlands' largest online shops remain inaccessible to people with visual or motor impairments. And that while in exactly one year, on June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act will take effect. This will make digital accessibility for e-commerce services (web stores) a legal requirement.

Level Level, which conducted its web store accessibility survey for the third year in a row, sees a decline in accessibility. Only Web stores MediaMarkt, Jumbo and Bol scored better in the most recent survey. The remaining online stores have dropped in score.

At Coolblue and Amazon, the addition of an inaccessible CAPTCHA made it impossible for anyone to order. A CAPTCHA is a type of puzzle designed to prevent spam.

At 8 of 15 online stores, it proved impossible to place an order using assistive technologies, such as the keyboard or a screen reader. That means that people who cannot use a mouse, for example because of a motor or visual impairment, cannot store online at Coolblue, Zalando, Amazon, Wehkamp, IKEA, Belsimpel, H&M and HEMA.

Web stores Bol, Albert Heijn, Jumbo, HelloFresh, GAMMA and MediaMarkt take accessibility into account. Ordering a product is possible, but takes a lot of effort. Only Apple stands out for its accessibility and user-friendliness.

In Europe, 27 percent of the population has a disability. In the Netherlands, that number is 32 percent. That means that one in three Dutch people may currently experience difficulty when shopping online.

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