How do you make a financial adviser website accessible?

What does website accessibility mean?

Website accessibility means designing and maintaining digital content so people with different abilities can perceive it, understand it, navigate it and use its functions. The barriers are not always obvious to somebody using the website with a mouse and a large desktop screen.

A menu that only works on hover can block a keyboard user. A form field without a clear label can become confusing when read aloud by a screen reader. Low-contrast text may be difficult for somebody with impaired vision, while complex instructions can create unnecessary difficulty for people with cognitive or learning disabilities.

For an advice firm, this sits naturally inside the wider website design process. Financial decisions are already complicated enough; the interface should not make the information harder to access.

What is WCAG 2.2?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, usually shortened to WCAG, provide an internationally recognised framework for making digital content more accessible. WCAG 2.2 organises its guidance around four principles: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

WCAG uses three levels of conformance: A, AA and AAA. For most commercial website projects, Level AA is a useful benchmark to discuss with designers and developers, although meeting a technical standard should not be confused with guaranteeing that every user will have a perfect experience.

Private financial advice firms should also avoid assuming that the accessibility rules written specifically for public-sector websites apply to them in exactly the same way. UK service providers still need to consider their duties towards disabled users, so firms should take appropriate legal or compliance advice where their obligations need to be interpreted.

Make text easier to read

Readable content starts with typography and structure. Text should be large enough to read comfortably, line spacing should avoid dense blocks and pages should continue to work when a visitor zooms or increases the text size.

Headings need a logical hierarchy rather than being chosen because one style happens to look better. 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 too. Our guide to creating clearer website content explains why familiar language, descriptive headings and shorter paragraphs can improve understanding without oversimplifying the financial subject.

• Use readable typography and avoid making important information depend on very small text.
• Keep headings meaningful so they describe the section rather than acting as decorative slogans.
• Allow text to resize without content overlapping, disappearing or requiring awkward horizontal scrolling.
• Use emphasis selectively rather than relying on colour, capitals or formatting alone to communicate meaning.

Use colour and contrast carefully

Brand colours need to work in real interfaces, not only in a brand guideline. Text, links, buttons, form controls and focus states need enough contrast against their backgrounds to remain distinguishable.

WCAG 2.2 Level AA uses minimum contrast ratios for text, including 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for larger text. Designers should test the actual colour combinations used across components rather than assuming a dark colour and a light colour will automatically pass.

Colour should not carry meaning on its own either. If an error is shown only by turning a field border red, somebody who cannot distinguish that colour may miss the problem. Add a clear text message and make sure assistive technology can identify it.

Make navigation work without a mouse

People should be able to move through the website using a keyboard as well as a mouse or touchscreen. That means menus, accordions, forms, modal windows and other interactive elements need sensible focus behaviour and a visible indication of where the user currently is.

The order should also make sense. If the keyboard focus jumps unpredictably around the page, the visual layout and the underlying structure are working against one another.

Navigation labels should be descriptive too. The principles in our guide to planning a clearer website structure apply here: people should be able to predict what they will find after selecting a menu item rather than decoding internal terminology.

Make links, buttons and forms clear

Links should describe their destination in context. Repeated anchors such as “click here” are less useful than wording that tells somebody what they will find next, particularly when links are being navigated with assistive technology.

Buttons should describe the action accurately. If somebody is booking an introductory call, say so. This supports accessibility and also improves the conversion principles we cover in our guide to making the next step easier for prospective clients.

Forms need visible labels, clear instructions and understandable error messages. Do not rely on placeholder text alone to explain what belongs in a field, and make sure errors identify both what went wrong and what the visitor needs to do to fix it.

Keep the first enquiry proportionate. Accessibility problems become more frustrating when users are asked to work through a long form containing information the firm does not actually need at first contact.

Make images, video and documents accessible

Images that communicate useful information need appropriate alternative text. The purpose is not to describe every visual detail; it is to provide the information somebody would otherwise miss. Decorative imagery should be handled so screen readers can ignore it rather than announcing meaningless file names.

Video content may need captions and, depending on the material, other alternatives so important information is not available only through sound or visuals. Avoid autoplaying media that interrupts navigation or creates unnecessary distraction.

Downloads deserve the same attention as web pages. Financial advice websites often contain brochures, guides, forms and PDFs that become part of the client journey. A beautifully accessible webpage does not solve the problem if the essential document linked from it is difficult to navigate or understand.

Does mobile design affect accessibility?

Yes. Smaller screens can magnify problems with target sizes, spacing, forms, menus and content that depends on a wide desktop layout. Visitors should be able to zoom, change orientation where appropriate and use controls without repeatedly selecting the wrong item.

Do not treat responsive design as proof that the site is accessible. A layout can resize successfully while still containing poor contrast, missing labels, inaccessible menus or an illogical focus order.

Performance also matters because heavy pages and unstable interfaces can make tasks harder to complete. Our guide to the technical factors affecting website performance covers the wider technical side.

How do you test website accessibility?

Automated tools are useful for identifying certain issues quickly, including some contrast problems, missing labels and structural errors. They cannot reliably tell you whether the whole experience is understandable or whether every interaction works properly with assistive technology.

Combine automated checks with manual testing. Use the keyboard, zoom the page, inspect content on different screen sizes and test important journeys such as navigation, adviser research and enquiry forms. Where accessibility is significant to the project, specialist testing and feedback from disabled users can reveal issues that automated checks miss.

Is accessibility an ongoing job?

Yes. A website can launch with strong foundations and gradually become less accessible as new pages, plugins, forms, documents and campaign components are added.

Accessibility should therefore be part of the publishing and maintenance process. Give content editors rules for headings, links, images and documents, and include accessibility checks when templates or third-party tools change.

The same applies to compliance governance. Our guide to building regulatory considerations into the website process explains why review works better when requirements are understood before content and components reach the final approval stage.

At Goldmine Media, we consider accessibility alongside content, design, development and client journeys so important information and actions remain usable by a wider range of people. That means building clearer components from the start and testing how they work in practice rather than relying on appearance alone.