For financial services marketers, accessibility can easily become synonymous with compliance. But Jonathan Hassell, CEO of Hassell Inclusion, believes the conversation needs to go much further.
“A conservative estimate suggests that four out of 10 people require digital communications to be accessible,” he says, highlighting the range of needs spanning sight and hearing impairments, cognitive challenges, neurodiversity, fine motor difficulties and ageing.
For financial brands, that means accessibility needs to be considered throughout the customer journey, rather than treated as a specialist requirement.
Simple oversights can make a difference: whether images have alt text, whether videos include audio descriptions, whether podcasts are captioned and whether campaign imagery represents people with disabilities.
But marketers also need to look beyond WCAG guidelines and consider the requirements of neurodivergent and ageing customers, among others.
Accessibility isn’t just a disability campaign
One of the biggest misconceptions, says Hassell, is that accessibility is something brands only need to think about when running a disability-focused campaign.
“Accessibility is for all campaigns.”
It should also apply internally. Marketing teams need to ensure their own employee communications are accessible, while physical and digital experiences – such as activations and touchscreens – must work for as many customers as possible.
For financial organisations operating in Europe, this is becoming increasingly important as the European Accessibility Act brings additional requirements for accessible digital services and self-service terminals.
From compliance to commercial opportunity
Hassell argues that accessibility sits across three areas: compliance, reputation and commercial opportunity.
“If you get accessibility right, you will not only meet your compliance obligations, you will also improve brand reputation and unlock a wealth of potential new customers.”
HSBC provides one example of accessibility being embedded at scale. Hassell Inclusion has developed guidelines covering neurodiversity, photosensitivity, VR and SharePoint accessibility, helping shape digital tools and campaigns used by HSBC’s 235,000 employees globally.
Training is another key part of the approach. Through the HSBC Train 1000 programme, Hassell Inclusion has trained more than 1,800 people in accessibility, helping spread those skills beyond the bank to vendors, fintechs and other organisations.
For Hassell, lasting change requires senior-level commitment and accessibility becoming part of business as usual.
Creativity shouldn’t be the casualty
There is also a misconception that accessibility limits creative ideas.
Hassell points to Caption with Intention, which won the Inclusive Design Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, as an example of the opposite.
The project reimagined closed captions using colour, typography, animation and timing to communicate speakers, emotion and intonation – creating a more engaging experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.
“Financial services marketers shouldn’t see accessibility as a limiter,” says Hassell.
The key, he argues, is authenticity: accessibility needs to be backed by meaningful action and long-term commitment rather than simply good intentions.
AI: opportunity with responsibility
Looking ahead, Hassell sees AI as one of the biggest opportunities for accessible marketing.
It could accelerate captioning and image descriptions, personalise communications and create new assistive interactions. But financial marketers will need to ensure humans remain in the loop.
AI-generated alt text, for example, can be useful, but inaccurate or biased outputs still need to be identified.
The same applies to AI-powered customer service. Customers need to know when they are interacting with AI, while systems should be capable of recognising different communication needs and handing conversations to a human when necessary.
“AI can assist, but human oversight prevents harmful errors.”
Ultimately, Hassell believes accessibility should be viewed not as a final compliance check, but as part of how financial brands design and communicate from the outset.
For marketers, the opportunity is clear: better accessibility can mean better communication – and better communication means better customer experiences.