Belgium's Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs had a challenge many government bodies recognise: essential travel information scattered across multiple embassy websites, often difficult to find and not accessible to all citizens. FPS Foreign Affairs partnered with iO to create a single, inclusive platform that brings all traveller content together while meeting the strictest accessibility standards. The result: a WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant website, tested with blind and visually impaired users, that makes official travel advice available to everyone.
Accessible government website development from strategy to launch
WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant platform
User testing with blind and visually impaired citizens
Content consolidation from multiple embassy websites
Citizen-centric, inclusive design approach
The challenge
How do you transform fragmented embassy websites into a single accessible platform that serves all citizens equally, including those with visual impairments?
The solution
We consolidated all Belgian embassy travel information into one WCAG-compliant government website, validated through extensive accessibility testing with real users.
FPS Foreign Affairs x iO: building digital accessibility into government services
The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is the central body responsible for Belgium's international policy, serving millions of citizens who travel abroad each year.
Our partnership with FPS Foreign Affairs centres on a shared ambition: making government information truly accessible to every citizen. Together, we approached this challenge not as a compliance exercise, but as an opportunity to set a new standard for inclusive public sector digital services.
Why accessibility matters in government website development
When citizens need official travel advice, accessibility is not a luxury. It is a fundamental requirement. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) and EU Directive 2016/2102 set clear standards for public sector websites, requiring WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance. But for FPS Foreign Affairs, meeting these standards was about more than compliance: it was about ensuring that every Belgian citizen, regardless of visual ability, could access critical travel information before heading abroad.
The previous situation made this difficult. Travel advice was spread across multiple embassy websites, each with different structures and varying levels of accessibility. Citizens often struggled to find what they needed. For people with visual impairments, the experience was even more challenging.
Consolidating content into one citizen-centric platform
The first step in accessible government website development is making information easy to find. We worked closely with FPS Foreign Affairs to map all existing traveller content across Belgian embassies and bring it together on a single platform.
This content consolidation was not simply a technical migration. It required careful restructuring to ensure that information architecture supported both findability and accessibility. We applied inclusive design principles throughout: clear navigation, logical content hierarchy, and consistent interaction patterns that work for all users.
WCAG compliance through real user testing
Meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance requires more than following a checklist. True accessibility means validating your work with the people who rely on it most.
After initial development, we invested significant time in accessibility testing with a diverse audience, including blind and visually impaired users. We tested across five key dimensions:
Readability: can users with screen readers understand the content?Usability: can users navigate and complete tasks independently?Functionality: do all interactive elements work with assistive technologies?Performance: does the site load efficiently on all devices?Compatibility: does the platform work across browsers and assistive technology combinations?
This methodology aligns with EN 301 549, the European standard for ICT accessibility, and ensures the platform meets both current requirements and upcoming European Accessibility Act obligations.
Building for long-term public sector accessibility
Accessible government website development does not end at launch. The platform we built for FPS Foreign Affairs is designed for sustainable accessibility: content editors can maintain WCAG compliance as they add and update travel advice, supported by clear guidelines and accessible content templates.
This approach transforms accessibility from a one-time project into an ongoing capability, positioning FPS Foreign Affairs to meet evolving standards and serve all citizens effectively.
From fragmented to fully accessible: digital inclusion in government services
The new travel advice platform delivers what citizens need most: clear, reliable information that is easy to find and accessible to everyone. By consolidating multiple embassy websites into one WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant platform, FPS Foreign Affairs now offers a consistent experience for all Belgian travellers.
For citizens with visual impairments, this means independent access to official travel advice without barriers. For FPS Foreign Affairs, it means a future-proof platform that meets European Accessibility Act requirements and sets a benchmark for inclusive public sector digital services. The collaboration continues as we work together to maintain and evolve the platform for changing needs and standards.
