2025 Digital Accessibility Index
Financial Services
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When banking isn’t accessible, financial independence suffers
Financial institutions are investing heavily in digital banking tools, yet many still overlook the importance of accessibility — making it difficult for people with disabilities to enjoy financial privacy and independence.
“A lot of times, there aren’t any steps to take to [maintain financial privacy],” said Chris Preiman. “You just have to accept that you’re about to give it up because something you need to do isn’t optional.”
Just 37% of households with a disability rely on online or mobile banking as their primary method, compared to 62% of households without a disability (National Disability Institute).
“I run into problems all the time trying to transfer funds or make payments, but I rarely contact companies. I cringe thinking about how I'm going to explain it to people. It feels so daunting." ”
— Dave Carlson | AudioEye A11iance Member
Despite the demand for accessible digital banking experiences, financial services websites present significant accessibility challenges, with keyboard accessibility barriers, missing image alt text, and inaccessible forms making it hard for people to manage their finances independently.
On average, financial services sites had one of the highest rates of inaccessible forms.
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Bar chart showing WCAG Criteria 3.3.2 fail rates by sector: Government 27.4%, Finance 24.5%, Retail 23.5%, Software 22.3%, Healthcare 18.6%, Education 17.0%, Hospitality 14.3%.
INDUSTRY COMPARISON
Where do financial services websites fall short?
We scanned 57,419 pages across 1,529 financial services websites, focusing on key areas like account management portals, loan applications, and customer service pages.
Finance sites had one of the highest rates of inaccessible links (80.0% of pages with at least one unclear link)—which can make it difficult for users to find critical services like payment portals, transaction histories, and customer support.
Missing alt text can obscure critical financial details
Financial services sites had an average of 21 inaccessible images per page — making it harder for people with visual disabilities to review charts, graphs, and other essential financial information.
Poor color contrast can make documents unreadable
The average financial services page had 74 violations of WCAG's minimum color contrast requirements — making it difficult for customers with low vision to fill out loan applications, read account balances, or understand terms and conditions.
Keyboard navigation barriers can disrupt financial tasks
Financial services websites had an average of 8.3 keyboard accessibility issues per page. These barriers can prevent keyboard-only users from transferring funds, navigating account settings, or completing online transactions.
Inaccessible links can slow down learning
The average financial services page had 5.4 inaccessible links, which can make it difficult for users with disabilities to manage their account or locate important services, such as payment portals or customer support.
Inaccessible forms can make it hard to manage accounts
Financial services websites had 6.8 inaccessible forms, labels, or buttons per page — making it difficult for students to sign up for accounts, transfer funds, or set up automatic payments.
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INFOGRAPHIC
Digital Accessibility for Financial Services
Get the latest insights into the accessibility of financial services sites.
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