Gary Aussant Of Perkins Access On How They Are Helping To Promote Financial Inclusion
An Interview With Orlando Zayas
Work with experts and native users. Improving the accessibility of your digital experiences in a meaningful, sustainable way, takes expertise that only someone with years of accessibility experience can provide. The best approach to creating accessible experiences will include evaluations by native users of assistive technology for invaluable, real-world insights into how people with disabilities experience your website, apps and other digital products.
Most of us take it for granted that we can open a bank or a credit card. But the truth is, according to the World Bank, close to one-third of adults — 1.7 billion — are still unbanked, and have no access to a transaction account. About half of unbanked people include women in poor households in rural areas or out of the workforce. What can be done and what is being done to promote more financial inclusion? To address this Authority Magazine started a new series about Companies Helping To Promote Financial Inclusion. As part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Gary Aussant.
With a 20-year career in technology and user experience consulting, Aussant has helped Fortune 100 companies including Bank of America, Microsoft, Google, and Transamerica embrace inclusive design. He specializes in design thinking and usability testing to improve digital experiences early in the product development cycle.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I was raised in Western Massachusetts with my younger brother and single mother. My father was a veteran who died in the Vietnam War when I was very young. We were lucky to have a close-knit family nearby, which meant lots of play dates with cousins!
Our mother kept my brother and I very busy when we were young. I played just about every sport in the book. My favorite activity growing up was karate. I ended up reaching a red belt in taekwondo and competed in a number of tournaments until the age of 13 or so.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
My favorite book growing up was The Old Man and the Sea. It resonated with me because it taught me perseverance and patience. I think it motivated me to pursue my passion in school and in other life endeavors. I did not grow up with a lot of financial support and eventually was able to put myself through college and graduate school. It took me longer than the “typical” educational path but it helped me to develop a strong work ethic.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
As a child, taekwondo taught me to respect others, to be humble and to “never give up.“
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
It may sound cliché, but I am a huge believer in leading by example. I think good leaders are not ones that tell others what to do, but in the trenches and are not afraid to get their hands dirty. Good leaders develop trust with those who they lead, give them autonomy and offer praise for achievements and coaching when needed.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I was an independent consultant I worked on a project for Facebook where I conducted research to understand which camera effects were most appealing to Facebook users. It was an interesting exercise in understanding how people use social media and photographs to promote their personal brand and style. And, it helped me understand how important social media is in helping people feel connected and part of a community of like-minded individuals.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Let’s start with a basic definition so that all of our readers are on the same page. What exactly is Financial Inclusion?
Financial Inclusion means no person or group is excluded from accessing financial services, so everyone has an equitable experience. True financial inclusion embraces everyone, including an often overlooked group: people with disabilities. For this to work, any barriers to access must be removed.
What does it mean to be “unbanked”?
A person who is “unbanked” doesn’t have an account with a bank or other financial institution. Which means that regular financial activities, like cashing a check, are inconvenient and often costly due to interest and fees.
For the benefit of our readers, can you explain some of the typical reasons why a person might be unbanked? Why can’t they just walk into the local bank and open an account? Why can’t they simply open an account online?
For many people who are unbanked, fees, minimum deposit requirements, and other upfront costs are barriers to entry. For people with disabilities, there are additional barriers, especially when it comes to online and mobile banking. Only 29 percent of households with disabilities (compared to 51 percent of those without disabilities) use mobile banking. Why? The answer is simple. They’re inaccessible. Just as physical branches and ATMs need to be accessible to people with disabilities, online websites and applications need to be accessible and usable.
Can you tell our readers a bit about your work to promote Financial Inclusion? Without saying names, can you share a story about a person who was helped by your initiative?
By partnering with organizations to improve the accessibility of their digital experiences, we’re not only enabling current customers, we’re expanding the opportunity for more people with disabilities to become customers and participate in those online goods and services over time. For someone who is blind and uses a screen reader to navigate the web, accessibility is critical. If the form to open an account is not built with accessibility in mind, a screen reader user could encounter barriers like missing form field labels, which would make it impossible for the user to accurately complete and submit their application.
This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for businesses to promote financial inclusion?
Banking is an essential activity that everyone should have access to. Without financial inclusion, many are left out and left behind. Financial inclusion has the ability to empower millions to meet their basic needs, like housing and healthcare, and prepare for future needs.
For people with disabilities, financial services can’t be inclusive if they can’t be accessed in the first place.
Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. You are an influential business leader. Can you please share your “5 Steps Businesses Should Take To Promote Financial Inclusion”. Kindly share a story or example for each.
- Choose screen colors wisely. One of the simplest things you can do to make your mobile app or website more accessible is ensure that it has good color contrast. This improves readability for people who are colorblind or have impaired vision and also makes it easier for everyone to see what’s on their screen when they’re outdoors or in bright light.
- Convey information in multiple ways, including labels, haptics and sound. People who are blind use assistive technologies like screen readers to convert text and icons to speech on digital interfaces. So, it’s important to design features and functions accordingly. This is particularly important in complex use cases like mobile check deposit, where the mobile device camera is used.
- Make tap targets big and gestures easy. Mobile banking tasks like transferring or sending money generally rely on touchscreen interactions: Selecting accounts, entering amounts and dates, tapping “send” or “confirm” buttons. For people with visual impairments or dexterity issues, an easy-to-use interface is critical.
- Make the most of voice technologies and virtual assistants. Voice input and output technologies are already making it easier for people with disabilities to interact with technology. The newest iteration of virtual assistants, meanwhile, are taking inclusive financial services to the next level. Siri, the iPhone’s built-in virtual assistant, which some financial services companies are incorporating into their apps, now allows users to look up balances and transactions, pay bills, request payments, send payments and make transfers by voice command.
- Work with experts and native users. Improving the accessibility of your digital experiences in a meaningful, sustainable way, takes expertise that only someone with years of accessibility experience can provide. The best approach to creating accessible experiences will include evaluations by native users of assistive technology for invaluable, real-world insights into how people with disabilities experience your website, apps and other digital products.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
At Perkins School for the Blind, we believe that we can build a world where people with disabilities can not only participate, but make life-changing contributions. In fact, we witness the power of inclusion every day on our campus. As Perkins breaks down the barriers and stereotypes that prevent people with disabilities (1 billion people worldwide) from fully participating in the world around them, Perkins Access breaks down barriers in the digital world. If I could inspire momentum in a movement, it would be for disability inclusion to be part of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts of businesses and other organizations.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
I would love to have the opportunity to have a conversation with Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. He has gone above and beyond to instill accessibility and inclusion as a core value at the company. I would love to pick his brain about what’s next for Apple’s products with regards to making them even more accessible. There are a number of new technologies, some of which are built into Apple products, that have the potential to make a huge impact on the lives of millions of people with disabilities.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
To learn more about how my team at Perkins Access is making the digital world a more inclusive and accessible place, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Connect with me, Gary Aussant, on LinkedIn to follow my work.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
