Each month, Philip Benton, Principal Fintech Analyst at Omdia, explores a new topic and assesses the “state of play”, providing an analysis and understanding of the market landscape.It’s clear that accessibility by design is a positive thing in terms of the social, business and economic benefitsI’m kicking off the year with a topic that is long overdue discussion, both in my column and the wider fintech industry, as I investigate the state of play of accessibility in fintech.The forgotten letter in ESGESG is a topic that is widely covered and often falls under the umbrella of ‘sustainability’, which many assume is the S in ESG. But the S actually stands for ‘social’, and this encompasses several issues including human rights, ethics and inequality. But for this column, I want to focus on the social issue of accessibility in fintech.I must admit that until recently, I was largely naïve to the challenges faced by so many in accessing and using basic financial services. So, when I first heard about Project Nemo, it seemed like I was the ideal target audience. Project Nemo is a 12-month disability inclusion campaign with a goal to set fintech as a sector leader in inclusion, delivering a lasting legacy of change. I attended Fintech Week London last year where project lead Joanne Dewar outlined the vision for the campaign: “The focus is about ‘minding the gap’. A lot of people are simply unaware,” she said in her speech.Dewar explained that it’s not just about adapting products for people with disabilities, but ensuring they are designed with inclusivity built-in from the outset. “Inside and outside of fintech, it should be accessible by default,” she said.The curb-cut effectThe mindset of ‘accessible by default’ can be seen in the concept known as the curb-cut effect. This refers to how features designed for one group end up benefitting society as a whole. The name comes from physical curb cuts on pavements that were initially installed to make cities more accessible for people with disabilities. However, it quickly became clear that they were useful for so many others—parents with buggies, cyclists, delivery workers, and even tourists with luggage.The curb-cut effect applies in more scenarios than you might realise. Subtitles are a great example. You might assume that they are solely used by those who are hard of hearing, but 63% of Netflix programmes are watched with the subtitles on. This might be because you are watching a foreign language TV show but prefer watching with subtitles than listening to a dub, or you find it easier to follow complex plots via subtitles, or you just simply prefer having the words on screen to read along. The point is that ‘accessible by default’ benefits everyone.The incoming EU Accessibility Act will force changeIt is clear that inclusivity and accessibility by design is a positive thing in terms of the social, business and economic benefits – the collective spending power
Mar. Gen 21st, 2025
