With more Americans choosing online banking over brick-and-mortar visits in the wake of COVID-19, banking apps must be fully accessible to meet the financial needs of one in four Americans with a disability.
Yet research from the National Disability Institute shows that 18% of households with a disability do not use banks, or are unbanked, while only 6% of households without a disability are unbanked.
Of the households with a disability who are unbanked, 28% reported that a lack of trust in financial institutions plays a role in their avoidance of banks and online banking. Since attitudes come from experience, this data indicates that people with disabilities might be experiencing a lack of accessibility when interacting with banking apps. If online banking is inaccessible, individuals with disabilities may feel excluded.
An accessibility audit
Since 2018, it has become best practice for Title III entities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, to meet their accessibility requirements through the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG). However, a 2021 audit of 30 major US banking institutions by Texthelp, a software company specializing in literacy and accessibility technology, found that many apps failed to meet basic WCAG requirements.
The failings discovered in the Texthelp audit generally fell into two categories: site design or coding errors and readability issues. Exploring the Texthelp findings helps developers to understand accessibility failures better. By recognizing limitations, one can compile a list of best practices that will make online banking more inclusive for all users.
Site design issues
WCAG lays out criteria for a site design that is accessible, and a site’s accessibility can fall into three rating categories: A, AA, or AAA. Compliance at the AA level is moderate and achievable, but the Texthelp audit found that no bank surveyed met WCAG requirements at this level. The primary culprits behind the failure to meet WCAG AA standards were site design and coding issues.
A site design issue that Texthelp often encounters is failing to choose colors with high contrast. This oversight prevents people with color blindness from differentiating text from the background on-screen. Additionally, Texthelp discovered thousands of coding issues that make accessing the app with a screen reader impossible.
These failures included duplicated ID attributes and missing title and name attributes. ID, title, and name attributes assign labels to elements of a site page, which let people using screen readers navigate through parts until they reach the position they want to access. When these labels are incorrect, duplicated, or forgotten, it leads to confusion for those using screen readers, creating a barrier to access.
Readability issues
The average reading level in America is hovering at about 6th-grade capabilities. Yet the Texthelp audit found that the average reading level required for the banking apps surveyed was college level. This disparity indicates that the average banking customer, including those with cognitive impairments, could find navigating banking options prohibitively tricky.
The overuse of jargon and long sentences exacerbates the reading level difficulties. Sentences over 21 words can confuse readers with language or comprehension barriers.
Similarly, jargon and industry-exclusive terms can confuse laypeople and average readers. Examples of confusing jargon found in the audit included amendment, component, furnished, notwithstanding, transmitted, negotiable, pursuant, herein, aggregate, construed, hereof, and incurred.
Everybody needs to bank, but not everybody went to business or law school, so the use of grand terms like these exclude 54% of Americans who read around or below a 6th-grade level.
Best practices to avoid these pitfalls
Content creators can improve app readability by avoiding jargon and long sentences. Ideally, a sentence optimized for readability would be less than 24 words and preferably between 15-20 words. And using simple language that conveys easily digestible information is the safest bet to ensure all users can understand a message and navigate a site successfully.
Site design should be more detail-oriented to avoid coding failures that lead to navigation barriers. Regarding navigation, site design should feature larger, spaced-out clickable areas to accommodate those with limited dexterity.
Other best practices for optimizing navigation would be to avoid placing multiple actions on the same screen, to provide frequent reminders and alerts, and to give precise feedback on progress and completion.
Regarding text, it is best to pay special attention to choosing colors with high contrast so that readers can easily differentiate between the text and the page background. Additionally, the text should be in a large, clear font, ideally over 16 pixels, using a Sans-serif font type. Also, avoid stylized fonts and blinking or animated texts.
When in doubt
Consult WCAG guidelines and utilize any of the many accessibility testing tools available on the internet.
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