Tax Season Is Hard Enough. Inaccessible Websites Make It Worse.

Tax season is often a source of stress and confusion — from navigating complicated forms to tracking down essential documents. For many Americans, the process has gone digital in recent years, with everything from tax filing to payment portals now hosted online.

But for the millions of people with disabilities who rely on accessible technology to navigate the internet, tax season presents an added challenge: government and financial websites remain deeply inaccessible, making it difficult — and in some cases, impossible — to meet their financial obligations independently.

Digital Accessibility Is Still an Afterthought

According to AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index, the average government webpage contains 307 accessibility violations — one of the highest rates of any industry analyzed in the report. From unlabeled form fields to vague navigation links, these barriers can prevent users from applying for benefits, filing taxes, or accessing critical public services.

Government websites frequently rely on images to convey information, including application instructions and service directories. Yet 15.3 images per page lacked alternative text (alt text), which allows people who are blind or have low vision to understand the content and purpose of images through screen readers. And with 77% of pages containing unclear links, navigating a site to find the correct tax form or deadline becomes a frustrating, if not impossible, task.

“I use an online tax service, and navigating the platform is often slow and irksome,” said Dave Carlson, a member of AudioEye’s A11iance Community. “Not all modules work the same way, and it takes a lot of trial and error just to reach input fields and Continue buttons. After years of using it, I’ve figured out how to get through it—but it shouldn’t be that hard.”

Financial Tools Are Also Falling Short

In addition to government portals, financial services websites — which host tools for direct deposits, tax refunds, and loan information — are also falling behind on accessibility. In fact, they were among the worst-performing sectors in the 2025 Index.

AudioEye analyzed more than 57,000 pages across 1,500+ financial services sites and found that:

• 80% of pages included unclear or vague links, making it hard to locate key services like payment portals or transaction histories.
• The average page contained 74 violations of minimum color contrast requirements as outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), making forms and financial documents difficult to read for users with low vision.
• On average, there were 6.8 inaccessible forms per page — preventing users from opening accounts, transferring funds, or setting up automatic payments.

“One of the biggest issues for me during tax season is getting my bank and credit card data in a usable format,” Carlson continued. “Most institutions only offer PDFs, which are nearly impossible to navigate when dealing with large tables. I need spreadsheets, but getting them often means calling the institution and explaining the issue—year after year. Nothing changes, so I’ve just had to get smarter about workarounds.”

Building a More Accessible Tax Season

Website accessibility issues don’t just create barriers for users—they also expose organizations to greater legal risk. With the Department of Justice gearing up to enforce updates to Title II of the ADA and stronger Section 508 compliance rules, both public agencies and private institutions will soon face more scrutiny regarding the accessibility of their websites.

For organizations — both public and private — the takeaway is clear: digital accessibility must be a priority.

Here are a few ways to start:

• Audit and test regularly: Use a combination of automated scanning tools and expert testing by people with disabilities to identify and fix issues that lead to lawsuits.
• Prioritize accessibility in high-traffic areas: Focus on critical pages such as login portals, form submissions, and payment tools where users are most likely to encounter issues.
• Engage with the disability community: Invite users with disabilities to share feedback and participate in the design and QA process. Their lived experience offers insight that internal testing often misses.
• Fix the basics: Ensure every image has alt text, every form field has a clear label, and every link accurately describes where it goes.

When essential services like tax filing, refund tracking, and benefit applications are out of reach, it creates unnecessary barriers to independence, privacy, and financial stability.

Accessibility isn’t just a feature to check off—it’s a civil right. Achieving it requires more than automated scans or surface-level fixes. It demands a comprehensive, thoughtful approach that includes testing with real users, fixing issues at the source, and building digital experiences that work for everyone.

As more public and financial services move online, equal access must be more than an afterthought. Everyone deserves the dignity of managing their own finances, accessing their benefits, and participating fully in the digital world.