Tristan Bożek
Senior UX/UI Designer at Raiffeisen Tech Poland
Raiffeisen Tech Poland Accessibility is not just about sufficient text contrast
On May 21, 2026, we celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The initiative takes place every year on the third Thursday of May. It’s a good reminder that digital accessibility is way more than just contrast or font size. It’s about creating products and services that are easier and more comfortable for everyone to use, regardless of age, abilities, or how they experience and process information.
What is digital accessibility?
Digital accessibility means designing websites, applications, systems, and other solutions and processes in a way that allows everyone to use them, regardless of how they see, hear, move, or process information. The goal is to ensure that technology does not exclude anyone.
At Raiffeisen Tech, we consider accessibility at every stage of developing digital products. It is our shared responsibility toward customers, employees, and everyone who may use our solutions. In banking, this matters especially. We design UX solutions for the RBI Group, focusing on experiences connected to security, important decisions, and our customers’ everyday needs. That’s why accessibility is not just a “nice to have” feature, but a responsible approach to UX design with people at the center.
Not Just Vision
For years, digital accessibility has been discussed mainly in one context: vision. Contrast, text size, and support for screen readers. These are still extremely important topics. But thinking about accessibility cannot stop there. By focusing solely on people with visual impairments, we overlook a huge part of the real challenges people face when using digital products.
People who are neurodivergent, have dyslexia, ADHD, or are on the autism spectrum are often overlooked, as are those who simply need more time, more predictable processes, or a calmer way of presenting information. This also includes older adults, people under stress, overwhelmed users, or those who are simply tired.
Accessibility is very often not only about vision or hearing. It also concerns memory, concentration, cognitive load, orientation within a process, and the sense of control over what is happening on the screen.
Today, ADHD, autism, and dyslexia are diagnosed more frequently not because there are suddenly more people with these conditions, but because we better understand neurodiversity and recognize it more often. At the same time, society is aging, and more and more aspects of life are handled exclusively online. Banking, healthcare, public services, insurance, shopping — everything happens through a screen.
That is exactly why accessibility is not a topic “for a minority.” It is about designing for everyone.
People Always Come First
People are always at the center. That is why we would like to present so-called personas — examples of four individuals that help us build empathy and better understand the challenges they may face if we do not put enough effort into making our projects accessible and easy to navigate.
Janusz, 71 years old
Let’s imagine him sitting at a computer, filling out a long insurance purchase form. Halfway through the process, he has to leave the computer to get a document from another room. He returns a few minutes later, looks at the screen, and sees a message saying that the session has expired.
For the design team, this is a standard security feature, especially in banking. For Janusz, it is a moment of frustration and the feeling that all his effort has just been wasted. Worse still, all the entered data is gone, so he has to start the process from the beginning.
He tries once more, but eventually, he may simply give up.
In this situation, there are many ways we could help him in a calmer and more empathetic way. The system could warn him in advance that the session will expire in 10 minutes and allow him to extend it, while also saving a copy of the form before logging him out.
Instead of forcing Janusz to restart the entire process, we could display a simple message:
“Your session has expired, but we have saved your progress. Please log in again to continue where you left off.”
One click, and Janusz returns exactly to the point where he stopped. No rewriting everything from scratch, no stress, and no feeling that the system is working against him.
The security remains exactly the same. The only thing that changes is the experience of the person on the other side of the screen.
Magdalena, 34 years old, dyslexia
Magdalena is good at her job, quickly connects facts, and communicates very well with people, but reading large blocks of text requires more effort from her. It is easy for her to miss key information, fatigue appears more quickly, and it is harder to maintain focus when faced with long walls of text.
This is not a matter of competence or “being worse at reading.” People simply process text in different ways.
When an interface is overloaded with content, cognitive load increases. Understanding decreases, frustration appears, and the risk of making mistakes grows.
In such situations, very simple improvements are often enough: shorter paragraphs, clear headings, a logical content structure, and a bit more spacing between lines of text. The information itself remains exactly the same, but it becomes much easier to absorb.
Interestingly, almost all users benefit from these kinds of changes — not only people with dyslexia.
Krzysztof, 35 years old, autism spectrum and dyscalculia
Krzysztof opens a banking app and sees charts, abbreviations like “2.5M,” lots of colors, percentages, and data. Everything looks modern and “data-driven,” but in practice it is difficult to quickly understand what these numbers actually mean.
When he sees a message such as “+12%, -300 bps vs YoY,” he is left with a very simple question: is this good news or bad news?
And that is exactly where the problem begins, because instead of feeling in control, he starts to feel stressed. Yet we are talking about financial decisions — situations in which users should feel as confident and calm as possible.
What could help? Presenting numbers in simpler language, for example “PLN 2,500,000” instead of “2.5M,” adding short summaries such as “what this means for you,” allowing users to switch between a simple and an advanced view, and maintaining a predictable interface without sudden changes or distracting animations.
A well-designed product should not increase a user’s sense of confusion. It should help people make informed decisions that are best for them.
Elżbieta, 73 years old, progressive dementia
The form consists of several screens and multiple steps. Elżbieta tries to complete everything carefully, but along the way she begins to lose track of what has already been done, where she currently is in the process, and how much is still left to complete.
If the system rushes her, changes the layout, or requires quick reactions, the entire process quickly becomes too overwhelming.
Not because Elżbieta is “unable to cope.” The interface simply demands more cognitive effort from her than it should.
A few changes could help Elżbieta feel more confident. Breaking the process into small, clear steps with a simple progress indicator such as “you are here / 2 steps remaining.” Using calm language and consistent terminology, while avoiding jargon and professional terms without explanations. Displaying messages that do not disappear after a few seconds, as she might not notice them in time. And also providing a “before you begin” page before the form starts, with a checklist of the things needed to complete it.
Thanks to such solutions, Elżbieta can act more independently, more calmly, and hopefully without stress.
Why All of This Matters
When we design products with these kinds of situations in mind, it quickly becomes clear that accessibility is not just a “nice extra.” It is simply better design. Fewer abandoned processes. Fewer mistakes. Less frustration. Greater trust in both the product and the company.
This is especially important in areas where the stakes are high, such as banking, healthcare, or public services. If users do not understand a process or feel lost, the risk increases for both sides.
And there is one more thing that is easy to forget: solutions designed for older adults or neurodivergent users very often help everyone else as well. Someone tired after a long day at work. Someone stressed. Someone trying to get something done quickly while on the move, using a phone between meetings.
Accessibility Is a Process
Accessibility does not begin with ticking boxes on a WCAG checklist (WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) or checking button contrast ratios. It starts much earlier, with one simple question:
Who might struggle with this process, and why?
Because digital accessibility is not only about vision. It is also about memory, concentration, understanding, time, predictability, and the sense of calm while using a product. It is about designing with people at the center of everything we create. And products designed this way are simply better for everyone.