Equality, diversity, sustainability, and accessibility are not the latest buzzwords, they are essential for business success and payment providers, fintechs, and banks need to up their game.
The latest Payments Association data suggests that just 5% of payment businesses see Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as a priority in the next 12 months. However, over 99% of merchants surveyed by Ecommpay recently said they would select their payment provider based on their commitment to ESG. Moreover, 94% said sustainability values influence their decisions on which brands to work with. Clearly, the sustainability priorities of payment providers and their merchant customers are nowhere near aligned.
At Ecommpay, we see this lack of commitment to ESG as a missed opportunity. Ensuring all products and services are accessible to as many people as possible makes business sense, and there is plenty of evidence proving inclusivity and accessibility drive revenue. Awareness of accessibility requirements is, however, steadily growing, and many businesses are taking steps to ensure they deliver their services in a way that is easy for everyone to access.
The size of the challenge, though, must not be underestimated. The wider market for people with disabilities is estimated to be worth GBP 274 billion in the UK alone, and USD 1.9 trillion globally, with research finding that making a website more accessible can drive 23-24% more traffic. Yet, most websites were not originally designed to cater for those with visual, hearing, movement, or neurodivergent impairments. And that means many people are excluded from using these sites and accessing the services they provide.
To turn the tide and deliver an accessible website, businesses need to understand and implement a range of best practices and clear guidelines.
With the launch of our new website and brand identity in September, we made a significant commitment to our accessibility. The new colours, fonts, and layouts of the brand identity have been carefully selected to ensure accessibility for those with visual and hearing impairments and cognitive and physical disabilities. The Ecommpay-hosted payments page has also undergone rigorous testing by the Digital Accessibility Centre to achieve certification.
We are also helping merchants to improve their digital presence with free access to a Guide to Digital Accessibility. We worked with the Digital Accessibility Centre to create the guide, which outlines the actions needed to meet the WC3 (World Wide Web Consortium) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard for accessibility. These guidelines are an internationally recognised set of recommendations for improving web accessibility and a great place for businesses to get an idea of what they can do to help those who are less able to use their websites.
Organised around four key principles, perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, the WCAG 2.2 are further supported by thirteen guidelines, each broken down into clear success criteria. When making decisions around the new branding and website, Ecommpay followed WCAG 2.2 guidelines and considered how people engage with content. For example, a user might:
Navigate with a keyboard instead of a mouse,
Change their browser settings to make content easier to read,
Use a screen reader to read the content on a webpage,
Use a screen magnifier,
Use voice commands to navigate a website.
Every part of the website should be compatible with these modified ways of engaging. Ecommpay found that when businesses make this fundamental change to the priorities for their website and content, developers, designers, content authors, and others may need training to ensure they produce accessible content.
To ensure our newly designed site meets its aim, accessibility was made the top priority at every stage of development. The website was tested from an early stage to catch and rectify issues early on, with a more formal independent accessibility audit being carried out at the appropriate stage. Now that the website is live, we regularly gather feedback from users with disabilities to help ensure any further challenges are addressed quickly.
At Ecommpay, we are working towards the goal of financial inclusivity, and that begins with how the business engages with every customer and potential customer from the first point of contact. Ecommpay for Good is a dedicated ongoing programme focused on inclusivity, providing merchants with critical support to improve their accessibility to benefit customers and their business simultaneously.
Offering midsize and enterprise businesses the products and services to trade domestically and internationally, Ecommpay for Good goes to the heart of financial inclusivity. We also partner with organisations working across our industry to improve inclusivity and diversity, including Project Nemo and the European Women in Payments Network (EWPN).
EWPN is a not-for-profit organisation founded by social entrepreneur and advocate for the marginalised, Martha Mghendi-Fisher. The organisation is dedicated to building a community for women in cards, fintech, and payments across Europe and brings women together to learn about issues and trends, network with peers, and celebrate women’s achievements from across the payments ecosystem.
To find out more about Ecommpay and how we can help you grow, visit ecommpay.com.
Chief Marketing Officer at Ecommpay, Miranda McLean has championed the skills and expertise of diverse groups. Since 2019, she has served pro-bono on the Executive Board of the European Women Payments Network (EWPN) and has helped grow the community to over 12,000 members across Europe endorsing the skills and expertise of women in fintech. She is also on the Payments Association Editorial Board and a lead on Project ESG, encouraging fintech companies to adopt progressive, sustainable strategies for how they impact the environment, society, and their governance.
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