The Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven (Violent Offences Compensation Fund) gives victims of serious violent crimes financial compensation - recognition of their suffering and support to move forward. We have been the digital partner of this Dutch government organisation since 2019.
The challenge
Visitors of schadefonds.nl are often at a vulnerable moment in their lives. Precisely then, a website has to offer solid ground: the right information fast, no noise, no barriers. The previous website fell short functionally - key front-end elements needed work and the CMS did not match how the team works. On top of that, a government organisation faces strict requirements for security and accessibility: WCAG is not an ambition but an obligation.
Our approach
We first proposed targeted design improvements and then rebuilt the website:
- An information structure that accommodates the many kinds of content: hard facts and conditions, but also stories from other victims and referrals to further help
- Custom FAQ and conditions blocks that let the team add questions to a page without detours
- A Quickscan: a short questionnaire that helps visitors gauge whether and how to apply, and routes the outcome automatically to the right case handler
- Security delivered according to the technical checklist for government websites
- Continuous monitoring of the main site's WCAG accessibility
We treat accessibility not as a one-off audit but as an ongoing discipline: every content change and every new feature is checked before it goes live.
The result
The website is technically optimised, more compact and clearer - and the team adds questions and conditions themselves in a few clicks. The collaboration grew into a long-term partnership: we have now safeguarded the digital foundation for seven years, and are working on Schadefonds Publicaties, where accessibility once again comes first.
