Twenty Walloon municipalities have refused to sign Esenca’s Municipal Charter for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities. We checked the accessibility of their homepages.
Accessibility of websites and apps for all public services has been a legal requirement since June 2020.
Beyond this requirement, Esenca is calling on local authorities to make a public commitment to the inclusion of people with disabilities by signing a charter (FR). However, 20 local authorities still refuse to do so (FR).
Our analysis carried out in 2024 (FR) shows that neither signing the charter nor obtaining the Handycity label automatically guarantees the actual accessibility of websites and apps. This remains true despite commitment no. 4 of the charter, “multifaceted accessibility”, which explicitly mentions digital accessibility.
Using the benchmark tool Axe-core, we have this time analysed the homepages of the 20 reluctant municipalities. Despite some technical progress on the most recent websites, the regulatory aspect remains the weak point of their digital presence.
Our rapid audit shows that website architecture strongly influences access to information.
For 12 municipalities (Cerfontaine, Erezée, Ferrières, Gerpinnes, Grâce-Hollogne, Merbes-le-Château, Philippeville, Quévy, Theux, Thimister-Clermont, Seraing), the use of recent, standardised templates is effective. With only one or two automatically detectable errors, these sites have a solid technical foundation.
For the other 8 (Aubel, Burg Reuland, Frasnes-Lez-Anvaing, Gouvy, Herbeumont, Jurbise, Ouffet, Walhain), the older websites contain errors that need to be corrected urgently to ensure equitable access for all citizens.
Beyond the technical aspects, we carried out a simplified audit of the 12 best-performing sites using the method of the Walloon supervisory authority Equal. Keyboard navigation is generally very good, but compliance with transparency obligations is not guaranteed.
Indeed the accessibility statement, although mandatory, remains largely incomplete in all cases. To be compliant, it must specify:
Yet none of these statements contains these four essential elements.
Digital accessibility is not a “bonus” that can be postponed. The standards set out in the European Directive have been required for over three years.
We therefore urge the 12 local authorities with a recent website to rectify their administrative situation by publishing a compliant accessibility statement. For the other eight, a technical update is required to meet current standards.
By signing the Esenca charter and bringing their platforms into compliance with the law, these local authorities would demonstrate that digital inclusion is a genuine priority in their governance.
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