Does my website have until 2030?
The act names 28 June 2030, and that date turns up as a reason to wait a little longer. For a website the reasoning does not hold.
- The service itself
- Has had to comply since 28 June 2025, with no transition period
- Dutch implementing act, in force 28 June 2025
- What 2030 covers
- Contracts concluded before 28 June 2025, and products already in use at that point
- Article VIII of the implementing act
- Where 2028 comes from
- A different regime: the accessibility statement required of public bodies
- does not apply to a commercial website
What the act says about the service
The accessibility requirements apply to services provided to consumers, and they have applied since 28 June 2025. No transition period was included for the service itself. An online store that is open today falls under the requirements today.
That is the whole answer to the question in the heading. The other dates in the act cover other things, and the rest of this page explains which.
What 28 June 2030 is about
The transitional provision covers two situations that were already running when the act took effect. First: service contracts concluded before 28 June 2025 may run on unchanged until they expire, and at the latest until 28 June 2030. That is about the contract, not about the website it was concluded on.
Second: a service provider may keep using products until 27 June 2030 that it lawfully used before then for comparable services. Think of a payment terminal, or a modem supplied with a subscription. That is not about the website either.
The confusion makes sense, because the provision sits in the same act and names the same date. But the question it answers is a different one: may what was already in place stay in place? Not: may what you have online today wait a while longer?
The transitional provision for e-commerce services
There is one point where we are careful ourselves. The Dutch transitional provision for e-commerce services sits in the Overgangswet nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek and is open to more than one reading. We do not think the reading that gives an online store extra time is the most likely one, but we are not lawyers and we are not saying the other reading is impossible.
What this means for you: if someone tells you that you have more time, ask which provision that rests on and get legal advice on it. Meanwhile the ACM enforces the main rule, and that is the rule above.
Where the 2028 date comes from
That one circulates too, and it comes from a different direction. Public bodies have been under accessibility rules for longer, with their own obligations around a published accessibility statement and their own dates. That regime does not apply to a commercial company.
If a page says existing websites have until 2028, a date from that public-sector regime has probably been carried across. Check it against the legislation rather than the summary.
What this means in practice
If your company falls under the act, there is no future date to work towards: the requirement already applies. What remains is the question of how far off you are, and that can be measured.
If your company does not fall under it, that is usually because you are a microenterprise providing services: fewer than ten employees and at most two million euros in turnover. That exemption covers services and not products, and it lapses as soon as you grow past it.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Our site predates 28 June 2025. Does the requirement still apply?
Yes. The requirement attaches to the service you offer today, not to the date the site was built. An old site that takes orders today has to comply today.
We have a contract with our web developer from 2024. Does that help?
That contract does not fall under the transitional provision, which covers agreements with your customers rather than your own purchasing. What can help: change the agreement with your developer so accessibility is in it.
Who actually checks this?
The ACM supervises e-commerce services. It tested the largest Dutch online stores in March 2026 and then opened conversations with the ten worst performers.
What is the maximum fine?
For this act it is 900,000 euros or one percent of annual turnover, depending on severity and whether it is a repeat. The ACM does not start with a fine: first comes a period to fix it.
Can we check this ourselves?
Partly. An automated test finds only some of the problems, and the rest needs someone going through the site with a keyboard and a screen reader. Start with the automated test, because it costs nothing and points out the first items.