Dutch National Accessibility Certification
Blog
On the 27th of May 2016 the Dutch National Accessibility Certification (Nederlands Keurmerk voor Toegankelijkheid) was launched by the politian Otwin van Dijk at the Supportbeurs in Utrecht. The very first certification was given out to NH Hoteles, which is working to improve accessibility throughout their hotels in the Netherlands.
Initiative
This initiative for the Dutch National Accessibility Certification was taken by Ongehinderd with support of politician Otwin van Dijk, Wij Staan Op!, Locus Netwerk, Libra Revalidatie & Audiologie and Dwarsleasie Organisatie Nederland. Ongehinderd is dedicated to make the Netherlands more accessible for people with disabilities. The company developed the Ongehinderd app, which allows people to search, add and review accessible locations.
Accessibility, the new standard
On the 21st of January 2016 the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities was ratified by the Dutch government. At the same time a ground breaking amendment was accepted, which was written up by politician Otwin van Dijk. This leads to an new article in Dutch Law on equal rights for people with disabilities and chronic illness. This means that accessibility becomes the ‘new standard’ from the 1st of January 2017. The new NLKT certification will be a tool for the 2,5 million Dutch people to understand which buildings are accessible. Certification will include and consider accessibility for people with a mobility, visual, auditive or mental impairment and for people with assistance dogs.
Role of certification
Not all public buildings are able to comply with the currently existing ITS, which is widely supported by organizations for people with disabilities. For this reason, Ongehinderd decided to develop this new certification. The Dutch National Accessibility Certification will showcase the public buildings that for the most part accessible (with details), a step towards being perfectly accessible.
Source: Ongehinderd.nl