How do you make a financial adviser website accessible?

What does website accessibility mean?

Website accessibility means removing barriers that make digital content difficult to perceive, understand or use. Those barriers are not always obvious when somebody is browsing with a mouse on a large desktop screen.

A menu that only works on hover can block a keyboard user. Poor colour contrast can make text difficult to read. A form field without a clear label may become confusing when read aloud by a screen reader. Complicated instructions can also make an otherwise simple task harder than it needs to be.

Accessibility therefore belongs inside the wider website design process. Financial planning can already involve difficult decisions; the interface should not make the information harder to reach.

What is WCAG 2.2?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, usually shortened to WCAG, are a widely used framework for improving web content accessibility. WCAG 2.2 organises its guidance around four principles: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

WCAG uses three conformance levels: A, AA and AAA. For many commercial website projects, Level AA is a useful benchmark to discuss with designers and developers. Passing technical checks, however, does not guarantee that every user will have a good experience.

Private financial advice firms should also avoid assuming that rules written specifically for public-sector websites apply in exactly the same way. Where legal duties need interpretation, the firm should take suitable legal or compliance advice.

Make content easier to read

Readable pages start with typography and structure. Text should be large enough to read comfortably, spacing should avoid dense blocks and the layout should continue to work when somebody zooms or increases the text size.

Headings need a logical order too. A clear H2 and H3 structure helps sighted visitors scan the page and gives assistive technology more useful information about how the content is organised.

The writing itself matters just as much. Clear financial adviser website content uses familiar language where possible, explains technical terms when they are needed and breaks complex information into manageable sections.

• Use readable typography rather than relying on very small text for important information.
• Keep headings descriptive so they explain the section instead of acting only as visual decoration.
• Allow text to resize without content overlapping, disappearing or forcing awkward horizontal scrolling.
• Do not rely on colour alone to communicate meaning or status.

Contrast matters as well. WCAG 2.2 Level AA sets minimum contrast ratios for text, including 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for larger text. Test the actual colour combinations used in buttons, links, forms and content rather than assuming the brand palette will work automatically.

Make navigation and controls easier to use

People should be able to use the website with a keyboard as well as a mouse or touchscreen. Menus, accordions, modal windows, buttons and forms all need a sensible focus order and a visible indication of where the user is.

A quick practical check is to put the mouse aside and press the Tab key through the page. You should be able to tell which element has focus, what can be activated and how to move forwards or backwards without getting trapped.

Navigation wording should be predictable too. The same principles used when planning the website structure apply here: labels should tell people what they are likely to find rather than forcing them to interpret internal terminology.

Make forms, links and media accessible

Links should describe their destination in context. Repeated phrases such as “click here” provide less information than a link that tells somebody what they will find next.

Buttons should describe the action accurately. If the next step is to book an introductory call, say so. Clear action wording also supports the wider conversion journey because visitors know what they are agreeing to do.

Forms need visible labels, clear instructions and useful error messages. Placeholder text alone should not explain what belongs in a field. If something goes wrong, identify both the problem and how to correct it rather than signalling an error only through colour.

Keep the first enquiry form proportionate. A long form creates more work for everybody, and accessibility issues become even more frustrating when the firm is asking for information it does not yet need.

Images that communicate information need useful alternative text. Decorative images should be handled so a screen reader can ignore them. Video may need captions or another suitable alternative where important information would otherwise be available only through sound or visuals.

Documents deserve the same attention. Brochures, guides and PDFs can become part of the client journey, so an accessible webpage does not solve the problem if an essential download is difficult to use.

How do you test website accessibility?

Automated tools can find some problems quickly, such as missing labels, structural errors and certain colour-contrast issues. They cannot tell you whether the complete journey makes sense or whether every interaction works well with assistive technology.

Combine automated checks with manual testing. Use the keyboard, zoom the page, test different screen sizes and work through important journeys such as navigation, adviser research and contact forms.

Where accessibility is an important part of the project, specialist testing and feedback from disabled users can uncover barriers that automated tools miss.

How do you keep a website accessible?

Accessibility is not finished when the website launches. New pages, plugins, forms, PDFs and campaign components can gradually introduce new problems.

Give content editors simple rules for headings, links, images and documents. Recheck accessibility when templates or third-party tools change, and include it in normal website reviews rather than waiting for a large remediation project.

This works well alongside the wider website compliance process. Both are easier to manage when requirements are understood before pages and components reach final approval.

At Goldmine Media, we consider accessibility alongside content, design, development and client journeys. The aim is to build clearer components from the start and test how they work in practice rather than relying on appearance alone.