- Texthelp, a provider of literacy and accessibility technology has released – Accessibility in Financial Services: The key to serving everyone, a call to action for financial services companies to improve digital accessibility. In the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 are considered to provide an acceptable level of accessibility and are cited in many ADA rulings. Meeting these guidelines can help you make sure financial organizations are prioritizing inclusion and meeting legal obligations. Texthelp conducted a review of 30 of the top 50 U.S. national and community bank websites. The list of banks was based on revenue. Using its ReachDeck® product, Texthelp scanned each bank’s site for readability and accessibility. One key takeaway was that none of the banks scanned met full WCAG compliance. Beyond technical accessibility, readability was also highlighted as an issue. The review found the average reading age of a bank website to be 19 years old, or at college level. The average reading age in the U.S. is between 12 and 14 years old. This means the average visitor to these bank websites will likely find it difficult to understand their information.