News | 07.08.19

At Banks and Fund Firms, Access Is Too Often Denied, Blind and Deaf Investors Say

by: Joshua Brockman

Advocates for the disabled remain concerned about the blind and deaf client experience with banks and big mutual fund companies. “Most, if not all, of customer service help desk personnel have not been trained in inclusion, digital equity or what tools the disability community uses to navigate digital platforms, and we have a dead end at the first point of entry,” said Albert Rizzi, founder of My Blind Spot, an accessibility advocacy group in New York. Amber DeRosa, the manager of Vanguard's accessibility office, said Vanguard's phone associates were trained to answer questions a blind client might ask and how to handle a deaf customer's video call. Vanguard's first accessibility website went live at the end of May. Fidelity Investments has about 200 retail locations nationwide, which are equipped with Video Relay Interpretation services “so that an American Sign Language interpreter can be summoned within a minute to assist,” said Fidelity's customer accessibility lead, Hale Pulsifer. An interpreter can also be provided on site on request, he added.

Read the full article on New York Times