Keeping Monzo accessible

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day :heart:

We believe that focussing on accessibility is an absolute necessity. So here’s some of the work we’re doing to make sure everyone can access Monzo.

7 Likes

On the customer side i always find this a great goal, but one that can be difficult to completely achieve. Sometimes for example you just cant beat talking to someone and having them do something for you where the user interface is just unable to work for someone and never realistically will.

Do you find any difficulty in the limitations of Android or iOS in terms of making the app exposed to accessibility features?

And are there any plans for a tablet app? for iPad, android etc. A tablet optimised app would be a real benefit for everyone imo disabled or not, and would open a world of options for making monzo and peoples money more easily accessible.

I think mostly the difficulty is baking it into our processes to make sure that we remember to do it, we test it, and we test to avoid regressions.

We’re starting to do this now - there’s several mobile engineers, testers and designers who are championing this effort and we’re hoping to make a noticeable difference over the next year.

One of the challenges is that we’ve got a lot of screens in both apps. It’s unlikely that there’ll be a “big bang” change from one version to another; it’s more likely that we’ll make these improvements in new areas, and older screens as we touch them/get feedback.

we can totally try :muscle:

3 Likes

That’s interesting to hear. Its good that its being baked into the process, your definitely correct that its an easy thing to overlook.

I may be forgetting, but have you taken feedback on the accessabiltiy people using Monzo need? Any considerations for public testing of specific accessibility features to make sure they work with the public who need them day to day?

I know this feedback is collated separately - I think it’s mostly from chats with customer service that get escalated up. We’ve got several customers who’ve offered their help already, and I think it’ll make sense for us to get in touch when we’re a bit further ahead.

1 Like

chip and signature cards for people like the elderly or dyslexic or have difficulty remembering a pin number? most banks offer this now :slight_smile:

Hopefully just a choice of words but ‘make sure that we remember’ is an odd phrase for an agile team, it’s a requirement, so it shouldn’t be able to be ‘forgotten’? (Are you TDD, do you have accessible tests, or a Chameleon test bank perhaps)

At the moment, it’s not baked into our processes/checklists. Once it is, yep it’ll be a requirement :+1:

1 Like

A small point, but in terms of language it’s preferable to say ‘people are disabled’ than ‘people have a disability’. People are disabled by their environment and wider society – it’s not their bodies that is the problem. The social model is really useful to read to understand this better.

2 Likes

This isn’t really true for most people, though I get what your trying to say.

As for the phrase, it won’t be preferable because most don’t care. There’s nothing wrong with either.

Well that’s horrible.

I’m glad Monzo care.

Might have misread me. Most don’t care about the wording. ‘People have a disability’ is perfectly fine, the majority of disabled people aren’t bothered by that.

My argument is for monzo, they used the apparently inappropriate or in-preferable wording, but it’s not inappropriate, and it’s perfectly preferable.

1 Like

Ahhh ok, apologies, misread that completely.

2 Likes

I wonder if monzo have considered their application process for accounts may discriminate against disabled people?
E.g forms of ID
You require passport and or driving licences.
Most disabled people are unable/not allowed to drive so cannot get a licence. And are unable to travel due to health issues so do not have these forms of ID.

You could consider accepting Blue Badge (photo id) and PIP documentation as a reasonable adjustment to this process to make it more accessible to disabled customers.

3 Likes

Millions of disabled people still travel. You don’t have to drive to get a provisional license that is a very common ID to use.

This is not discrimination in any way at all.

2 Likes

I cannot legally drive and i’ll never be able to, I have a provisional - just say yes to the eyesight question, they’ll never check

2 Likes

I don’t really think it’s Monzo’s problem to solve in all honesty, though there are certainly things they could do. It’s probably something for the government. The issue of ID verification and ID acceptance is generally quite poor in the U.K. and is a privilege. It’s not a right that is afforded to everyone.

There are good solutions in the works, and some even in the process of being deployed now, but acceptance and uptake is always going to be the issue without a government mandate.

Something like this:

Although the bar for entry then becomes an issue of owning a smartphone, which is, again, a privilege. But since Monzo are a digital only bank, they already effectively discriminate against those folks anyway, so it wouldn’t matter at that point.

With that said, it’s a problem the high street banks have adapted to and can work around (I never needed your typical ID to open my first bank account with Barclays in the U.K., and indeed have never needed to prove it since, for instance) in ways the fintech banks have just never tried to. I think it would be nice if one of them did.

1 Like

Its every companies problem as per equality act 2010 and the human rights of disabled people via EHRC. Ignorance is not an excuse? And its litrally not just monzo but as all these online banks are popping up this will become a big issue. And honestly the monzo equality practices are good. And i was hoping they already had something in place for disabled customers without these ID’s.

You are aware there are conditions and medications that prevent people from having even a provisional licence right? And it is discrimination vould be classed as direct, indirect and discrimination arising from disability. But thanks for your comment

So to be able to open an online bank account disabled people would have to commit fraud :saluting_face::thinking:

1 Like