ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS
Bringing the voice of your customers into your boardroom and working practices
Bringing the voice of your customers into your boardroom and working practices
Why Vulnerability Matters
Supporting customers who find themselves in vulnerable circumstances is now a priority for many organisations and the regulators that oversee them. Regulators who have declared an interest in this area include the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), The Fundraising Regulator, OFGEM and OFCOM as well as a concern of the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
In some sectors regulators have already issued guidance on their expectations and clearly stated that they will be overseeing activity whilst applying a ‘vulnerability lens’. It’s clear that the FCA is planning to go even further than the guidance published back in February 2021, as they’re now well into a consultation on Consumer Duty. In other sectors, professional membership bodies have launched charters or commitments that they want their members to sign up to. The UK’s DMA (Data and Marketing Association) even has vulnerability under its Responsible Marketing pillar and runs Masterclasses for members and non-members under the training arm of the IDM (see link below for booking details).
This is clearly an issue that is being taken seriously with substantial fines already issued to firms who have not served their vulnerable customers fairly. In March ’22 the ICO alone issued fines totalling £405,000 to five companies for making over 750,000 unwanted marketing calls which were targeting older, vulnerable people.
So, here we go again! We’ve wished our loved ones a Happy New Year as we braced ourselves for what 2022 has in store. And now it’s the third Monday of January - often referred to as Blue Monday, said to be the most depressing day of the year. But is that true?
We talk tirelessly of the need to be able to recognise the signs which indicate one might find themselves in a vulnerable circumstance. There’s often an assumption that vulnerabilities and disabilities are obvious but that’s far from the truth.
We are proud to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day by joining together with Recite Me to raise awareness of the importance of creating a digital world where more than one billion people with disabilities/impairments can access online content barrier-free.
Thursday, 20th May marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day’s 10th anniversary. A key date in our calendar to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion.
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