NatWest redesigns app to make mobile banking easier for blind people
A major bank has redesigned its mobile banking app to enable blind and partially sighted people to use it more easily.
With the help of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), NatWest has made changes which will mean tasks that had been extremely difficult or impossible for blind and partially sighted people to complete - such as transferring money between accounts and making payments - should now be much easier.
The updates to the design use existing technology within iPhone and Android mobiles which allows text on an app to be read out to the user.
The changes include improving the contrast in the app so text can be read more easily. The app also now reads out the name of the landing page when a customer navigates to it. Previously when someone moved to a page they would not be told what page they were on, making it hard for some customers to know what to do next.
Some numbers such as sort codes are now read out as individual digits, rather than whole numbers, making information simpler to understand, NatWest said.
The bank said the app will help the 10,000 of its customers who have some form of visual impairment.
RNIB estimates that more than two million people in the UK are living with sight loss.
Steve Tyler, head of solutions, strategy and planning at RNIB, said: "RNIB are excited by this new offer, and delighted that NatWest is continuing to work towards providing accessibility for all."
