In today's increasingly digital world, people expect easy, immediate access to basic financial services such as their bank accounts or investment portfolios. For people with disabilities, digital accessibility issues can make it difficult to be an equal participant in these financial conveniences.
Let's examine this issue from a different perspective. If the street where your brokerage or bank branch is located closes for construction indefinitely, your foot traffic and business will inevitably decline because people can't easily access your storefront. Similarly, if your website or digital interfaces are not fully accessible, it has the same effect.
Accessibility is worth investing in, and not just because it's the right thing to do; it's also a huge business opportunity. It's time that financial services companies take note.
There's a misconception that digital accessibility is an edge case, when in reality 1.3 billion people in the world, and one in four adults in the United States, have a disability. Additionally, people with disabilities are
Whether it's with current or prospective customers, the simple truth remains that if they are experiencing difficulties with simple everyday tasks such as opening accounts online, having 24/7 on-demand access or depositing checks, they are more likely to switch to a firm that accommodates their unique needs. And when that happens at scale, companies will take a revenue hit.
The first steps companies usually take toward website accessibility involve customizing font or page design, providing text alternatives (Alt text) for those who can't see images or colors and giving keyboard support for users who can't use a traditional mouse or trackpad.
Yet almost every industry has its challenges when making these accommodations. Recently, AudioEye released its
Of the thousands of sites and over 3 billion elements (i.e., images, links, headers) tested for the Index, the findings concluded every page tested had at least one accessibility barrier — and the average page had 37 items that failed one of the success criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG.
The island state's biggest banks — which reported lower profits in the third quarter — say it is too soon to fully assess the economic fallout from the deadly August wildfires. The rebuilding effort could boost near-term deposit growth and long-term loan demand, they said.
While financial services websites performed relatively well compared to other industries — close to average — there is still noticeable room for improvement.
For example, when taking a look at some of the world's biggest banking and investment sites and focusing on key areas like customer portals, there remained a number of issues, including keyboard accessibility, which make it hard for screen readers to navigate around pop-up windows (such as promotional offers) or access information about account policies and perks. They also encountered several "accordion" elements (e.g., FAQs that can be expanded or collapsed by activating a button) that did not respond to keyboard commands, preventing them from getting key information about plans and policies.
In fact, accessibility barriers are one of the reasons that just
The Department of Justice recently
First, invest in the right tools and people for your website. For financial websites, companies will need to implement tools and best practices that allow them to detect and tackle accessibility issues at that scale. Furthermore, it's also important to involve members of the disability community, as these are the people who will benefit most from your accessible site. By doing so, these individuals can help point you toward where they may be running into barriers.
Second, Identify and remediate accessibility issues. Knowing where to look for accessibility issues that are currently impacting customers is key, as this is where there could be barriers that can lead to lost clients or increased legal exposure. Focusing on the most important pages and essential user tasks is a great place to start.
Finally, prioritize accessibility. Gartner said it best when it stated, "
As financial institutions continue investing in a customer experience that accounts for all people, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities, the return on these investments will be seen not only from a dollar value of increased business and customer loyalty, but from the human value of doing the right thing and being inclusive of all people.
