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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

Digisterker launches teaching materials for special needs students

SIDN Fund supports initiative to help young people access digital public services

Group of high school students using laptop in classroom
  • Thursday 24 November 2022

Many young people start using online public services between the ages of 14 and 21. They'll open a DigiD account, for example, apply for benefit or request a tax rebate. But some find it harder to do those things than most. The Digisterker Foundation therefore develops educational programmes to help people understand digital public services. In 2019, the Foundation launched Doe je digiding! ('Do Your Digital Thing!'): a lesson programme for secondary schools, designed to help young people access digital public services independently. That was recently followed by an adapted version of the programme for students with special educational needs. "The initiative is intended to help students find their way around the complex world of digital public services," explains Sophie Vijgen, Educational Developer at Digisterker. "We developed the lesson programme with support from SIDN Fund." Sophie talks about the new programme, and how it promotes accessibility and inclusivity in the virtual and physical worlds.

Full social participation

Portrait photo of Sophie Vijgen, educational developer at Digisterker
Sophie Vijgen, educational developer at Digisterker

"Acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills boosts young people's digital independence. It's important that everyone has the opportunity to do that, including those with special educational needs," says Sophie. "In the Netherlands, we have schools that provide practical education for youngsters aged 12 to 18, who struggle to learn the traditional way. The students who go to these schools have IQs between 55 and 80. After 18, the students often move into employment, or into vocational upper secondary education. The adapted version of our lesson programme is designed to introduce these students to digital public services. The material explains what the services are and how you access them, in a way that this group can understand. Initiatives of this kind help the youngsters to make use of the services available to them. So they can apply for study allowances, for example, or for social housing. Hopefully, by helping them get off to a good start in adult life, we can prevent them getting into difficulties, such as debt."

"Our adapted programme has 5 themes: The Government and You, Banking and Money Management, Starting Work, Health Insurance, and Housing. The themes are aligned with the students' real-life experiences, and with their language and cognitive skills. For each theme, plans are provided for 2 traditional lessons, including interactive material, such as videos, debating topics, assignments and worksheets. Relatable practical scenarios are used as vehicles for discussing the issues and thinking about dilemmas that might arise. For example, one scenario involves a young person who is unable to afford their health insurance after using their money to buy new shoes. Teachers have scope for adjusting each lesson to suit the student group, and to select topics linked to each theme for closer consideration. Each student is also given a step-by-step guide to take home, designed to help them do things like apply for a DigiD account. The guides lower the threshold for students to put their new knowledge to practical use. For more information about digital public services, we point students to our website digidingen-desk.nl, where we share handy tip lists and instruction videos to help young people cope online."

Piet Boekhoudt (director of the Digisterker Foundation) hands over the teaching material of the teaching program 'Doe je Digiding!' to Noortje van den Boogaard (director of practical training school de Rijzert) and Jamie Visser (Secretary of the Practical Education Sector Council).

Piet Boekhoudt (right), director of the Digisterker Foundation, hands over the teaching materials of the 'Doe je Digiding!' to Noortje van den Boogaard (middle), director of practical school De Rijzert, and Jamie Visser (left), secretary of the practical education sector council.

Testing and launch of the teaching material

"During development of the teaching material, we worked closely with teachers from a number of practical schools. Earlier this year, we then tested the first versions in three schools around the country. The tests involved various year groups using the material under their teachers' supervision. They then gave us their feedback, which we used to refine the material prior to the launch. The feedback enabled us to align everything more closely with students' interests and experiences. We launched the finalised programme at a celebratory gathering on 1 November. We presented the material to the Practical Education Sector Council and De Rijzert, a practical school in 's-Hertogenbosch. A variety of networks and contacts working in practical schools all around the country placed orders immediately following the launch. More than 300 teachers have now ordered copies of the material, and we've had a lot of very appreciative responses. Ultimately, we'd like to get the programme into all 175 practical schools in the Netherlands," says Sophie.

Mieke van Heesewijk, Programme Manager at SIDN Fund

Support from SIDN Fund

"SIDN Fund provided the bulk of the project funding. Their support enabled us to develop this adapted practical learning version, and then launch a programme that's now available to 29,000 students in this sector and their teachers." The initiative was supported as part of SIDN Fund's Inclusion and Accessibility - Participating in the digital society call. The call focused on projects and tools that help to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of digital services, apps and websites.

Mieke van Heesewijk, Programme Manager at SIDN Fund, explains why the Fund was pleased to back the initiative. "The practical education version of the Do Your Digital Thing programme makes a huge contribution to the self-confidence of students with special educational needs, and their ability to access online public services. In a world where public service providers are digitising rapidly, but a proportion of the population struggle with access, that contribution is very significant."

A programme for all young people

"It's almost certain that, at some stage, digital literacy will become a standard part of the school curriculum, which sets out what people should learn at school. I'm very much in favour of that, because the internet plays an increasingly important part in everyone's lives. And people need digital skills to participate fully in the modern information society. However, quite a lot of people find it hard to use online services, apps and websites.

"We are constantly looking for partners and sources of funding to enable us to keep updating and renewing our teaching aids. Because, ultimately, we'd like to make our programme available to all young people. It's our contribution to an inclusive digital world, in which everyone can participate."

Digisterker's 2022-2023 Dutch-language programme for the practical education sector is now available to order. Want to know more about the initiative? Contact Sophie Vijgen by mailing sophie.vijgen@digisterker.nl or watch the EenVandaag video featuring students talking about using the programme.