Web Designer / UI or Front-End Designer
The most natural route out, given the portfolio, UX/UI and accessible-design focus. These titles aren't on the Dutch national list of high-opportunity occupations.
Design websites that don't just look strong — they hold up for the people who actually have to use them.
You'll learn to fold accessible web design into UX, UI, responsive design and real-world delivery. From clear navigation and readable typography to forms, keyboard operation and clean handoff to developers — accessibility becomes part of the design decision, not a fix-it pass at the end.
Designing for real use
Why accessible web design
A website doesn't become accessible by fixing contrast at the end. The foundation is already set by the information structure, order, navigation, components, forms and error messages. That's why this course works from user need through to tested design — not the other way around.
Official background: DigiToegankelijk on EN 301 549 and WCAG (Dutch) and W3C on WCAG 2.2.
Sound familiar?
Programme
You won't build a set of disconnected screens — you'll build one coherent website case. Each module adds a layer: research, structure, visual design, interaction, technical handoff and testing.
Researching user needs, understanding disabilities and assistive tools, applying the four WCAG principles, and translating accessibility into design criteria.
Designing page hierarchy, navigation, headings, reading order, link text and content patterns that stay understandable and predictable.
Building readable typography, colour use, scalability, icons and component states into an accessible design-system foundation.
Designing keyboard paths, visible focus, forms, error messages, touch targets, modals and mobile navigation with real care.
Understanding semantic HTML and CSS at a working level, recognising the limits of ARIA, and documenting designs for developers and content editors.
Combining automated checks with manual testing, prioritising findings, and finishing your website case with an accessibility dossier.
Working tools
Tools change. The design principles and testing skills stay useful, even once you're working in a different CMS or on a different design team.
Design process
Research users, context, content and accessibility risks.
Work out structure, components and interactions, inclusively.
Document behaviour and acceptance criteria clearly.
Find issues, prioritise, fix, and check again.
Where this leads
This course's strongest content match is web design, UI and front-end design. UWV's "high-opportunity" label, meanwhile, sits with a few adjacent occupations. So rather than one big promise of jobs, here are the different routes and what each one requires.
The most natural route out, given the portfolio, UX/UI and accessible-design focus. These titles aren't on the Dutch national list of high-opportunity occupations.
The strongest high-opportunity match in UWV's overview, especially at organisations where websites, publications and accessible documents are managed together.
Relevant for participants with an IT affinity who want to connect accessibility to CMS platforms, requirements, user questions and functional management.
Technical and back-end roles are high-opportunity, but employers set a high bar. This course works best as an addition for people who already have IT experience or a technical background.
Accessible web design strengthens this profile if you already have a communications background and manage digital projects, campaigns or websites.
A practical route for combining design with content, publishing and management. Not listed as a separate high-opportunity occupation in UWV's overview.
Who it's for
The group stays small and mixed. A beginning designer looks at a form differently than a CMS manager or a communications officer does — and that mix of perspectives makes the testing and the design decisions sharper.
In their own words
This specialisation in accessible web design is new, building on our existing courses in web design, UI/UX and WordPress. The quotes below are from those related programmes, and speak to how participants experience the teaching, the hands-on work and the small groups.
"The classes are hands-on and the groups stay small."
Lysette Rindertsma UI/UX course
"The instructor explained everything clearly."
Wiard Jaap Laarman WordPress / Elementor
"You learn a lot in a short time."
Art and the City student Web Design course
Price, exam and diploma
Every course is priced the same way. Tuition and exam fees are split deliberately, so you can see exactly what you're paying for — and so the exam can be listed as its own line item in an application to UWV or an employer.
Tuition
Exam and diploma
The exam is more than a formality: an examiner is scheduled, your work is assessed independently, and the result is formally recorded. UWV wants that cost itemised on its own, which is why it isn't folded into tuition. Raise both figures with your UWV advisor so they land in the application together. Combined, the course comes to € 5,230.
Practical exam
You'll design or improve a compact website for a realistic client brief — delivering research, structure, wireframes, visual design, interactive components, and a properly documented test-and-handoff set.
Pass, and you receive the Web Designer – Accessible Web Design diploma. Without the exam, you receive a certificate of participation.
Proof of what you can do
This course won't turn you into a formal WCAG auditor on its own. It will teach you to design accessibly, run basic checks, and discuss findings professionally with developers and clients.
Included
For employers and UWV
This course pairs a direct web-design profile with accessibility knowledge that also carries into document management, CMS administration, communications and functional administration. For each route out, we're clear about what extra experience might still be needed.
Choose your route
Six months of classes, practical assignments, a portfolio and exam preparation
VAT-exempt · payment plans available
Not sure about your level, prior training, portfolio or funding?
about 20 minutes
Discuss funding through your employer, UWV, or a personal development budget
we'll supply the course information
FAQ
You have one fixed class on Tuesdays, plus design and testing assignments alongside it. Budget roughly four to six hours of independent work. There are no classes during scheduled holiday weeks, which is why the programme runs from 8 September 2026 through 23 February 2027.
No — though general digital comfort and a feel for form, structure or communication help. Beginners start from the fundamentals. If you already have experience in graphic design, content, CMS work or communications, you can push your own cases further.
You'll learn to build prototypes and carry design decisions through into a CMS or a simple front-end. The focus stays on web design, UX/UI and accessibility — complex back-end development and coding sit outside this course.
The currently published version of EN 301 549 for Dutch government organisations refers to WCAG 2.1 at levels A and AA. WCAG 2.2 is the newer W3C standard and is backward-compatible. So you'll learn the legal baseline, plus the relevant newer criteria, so your design isn't already dated.
No. Full conformance applies to the entire delivered website — code, content, documents and third-party parts included — and has to be established through both manual and technical checks. You'll learn to design against the criteria, run basic checks, and hand off accessibility properly.
You'll get hands-on exposure to how screen readers interpret structure and interaction, and run simple checks yourself. This course won't make you a specialist across every combination of screen reader, browser and operating system.
You'll work with tools like Figma, browser dev tools, contrast and testing utilities, and a CMS such as WordPress. The exact selection may change. Before the start, you'll get an overview of the software you'll need and any subscription costs.
Yes. After the practical exam and final presentation, a passing result earns you the Web Designer – Accessible Web Design diploma. If you don't take the exam, you'll receive a certificate of participation instead.
No. You'll be able to apply accessibility criteria in design, recognise common problems, and run basic checks. Formal, full audits require additional specialist training and extensive testing experience.
The course runs in Amsterdam, The Hague, or live online, in Dutch or English. The final format, location and class time are confirmed once you're placed in a group.
In some cases, yes. UWV, your employer, or another fund makes the final funding decision. Art and the City can provide the quote, programme, learning goals, schedule, workload and a nuanced case for the profession.
Directly for web designer, UI designer and front-end designer. Beyond that, it can be a valuable specialisation for document specialists, web editors, CMS managers, communications professionals, and people with IT experience moving toward functional administration or web development.
Start Tuesday 8 September 2026 with the Web Design course. Build a professional portfolio where aesthetics, usability and digital accessibility aren't separate chapters — just one clear design.