In this episode of Accessible Finance, host Prerna Goel speaks with Kathryn Townsend — Head of Customer Vulnerability and Accessibility at Nationwide Building Society and founder of the Deaf Inclusion Consortium. She was previously the UK Government Disability & Access Ambassador for banking.

Together they explore why disability inclusion still lags behind vulnerability frameworks, how digital transformation risks leaving disabled customers behind, and what practical steps banks and fintechs can take to embed accessibility from the start. Kathryn also shares her experience leading industry coalitions, collaborating with Project Nemo on learning disability research, and pushing organisations beyond compliance to truly inclusive design.

If you want to understand what it takes to make accessibility a default in financial services, this conversation is full of insights, challenges, and solutions.

In this episode, FinTech expert Jas Shah shares his journey and why digital accessibility is no longer optional. He breaks down how the industry has moved beyond basic colour tweaks to fully inclusive design, guided by standards like the WCAG. Jas calls out the common myths and confusion around accessibility, and makes a clear case for why it’s good for business—not just compliance. From user testing to practical fixes, he lays out how FinTechs can build products that work for everyone—and why that’s a smart competitive move.

In this episode we are delighted to talk to Mary Elliott. Mary is the managing partner of city law firm Fox Williams and a partner in the corporate team where she heads up the Publishing & Digital Media practice. She regularly advises on mergers and acquisitions in the publishing and information industries as well as on day-to-day legal issues facing content-rich businesses including content acquisition and licensing as well as supply chain issues and the potential impact of AI. Mary has been partially sighted since birth and speaks on accessibility issues across a wide range of sectors. She is currently a trustee of the Royal National Institute of the Blind having previously been a trustee of the Nystagmus Network.