Digital accessibility is no longer an option. It goes far beyond the simple obligation of compliance. In the world, more than 1.3 billion people live with a disability that can make accessing digital content more complicated if it is not accessible – that’s about 16% of the global population. And it’s not just about people who are blind or deaf, but also individuals with motor, cognitive, or even temporary difficulties, such as having a broken arm, for example. In other words, if a website is not accessible, it’s equivalent to leaving out the population of China or India!
Faced with this reality, France has recently strengthened its regulations (with the European Accessibility Act) to require companies that offer digital products or services in the European Union to make their content accessible.
In this context, at BNP Paribas Personal Finance, we have made digital accessibility a priority, to allow everyone to navigate easily without getting lost or discouraged.
The starting point: a thought-provoking observation
The BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Observatoire Cetelem websites are the showcase of the company’s activities. However, their accessibility left much to be desired: a score of around 30%, sometimes confusing navigation, difficult-to-read content, insufficient contrast… In short, a obstacle-ridden journey for users with specific needs.
The central question of this website overhaul project then imposed itself:
How can we make sure that every visitor, regardless of their profile, can access the information?
At the same time, the company was unveiling its new Brand Book, laying the foundations for a renewed visual identity that was already aligned with the key principles of accessibility.
That’s how the project started.
The challenge: to modernize and make accessible while remaining faithful to our brand
Rethinking about twenty pages per site and dozens of articles, while respecting both the RGAA (General Reference for Improving Accessibility) criteria and the 2024 Brand Book, was a real challenge.
Auditing existing sites, defining priorities, designing mockups, user testing, and implementation… Each step was guided by the desire to combine aesthetics, readability, and functionality.
The result: more than just a facelift.
Today, the Corporate Web sites of personal-finance.bnpparibas and observatoirecetelem.com display an accessibility score of over 66%. Fluidity, simplicity, and readability have become the watchwords. The design? More modern and in line with the brand identity.
This overhaul is not just a simple “facelift”, it’s a strong signal. Digital accessibility is about inclusion, collective efficiency, and is consistent with our mission to promote more responsible and sustainable consumption, serving everyone.
