ANZ NZ to report annually on accessibility and inclusion

ANZ Bank New Zealand has committed to reporting annually on its accessibility and inclusion efforts as part of the wider company’s Accessibility and Inclusion Plan.

The plan outlines a set of commitments for driving and embedding accessibility and inclusion across all aspects of the bank. Until now, the plan had been driven out of Australia, but has now been expanded to have a specific focus on New Zealand.

Report (PDF): Financial Wellbeing: People with Disability or Long-Term Health Conditions

Fiona Mackenzie, who is the Executive Sponsor of Accessibility for ANZ NZ, says it’s fantastic that New Zealand would now have its own set of commitments.

“In New Zealand, one in four people identify as having a disability. Being a part of this plan is a public commitment from us to improving accessibility for both team members and customers.

“While we’ve always been focused on ensuring we’re an inclusive organization, we’re putting in place accessibility commitments that we’ll need to report back on, which holds us more accountable.”

Those commitments include:

• Actively consult people with disability in the design, development, testing and implementation of banking solutions.
• Provide team members with the knowledge, capability and tools to create accessible experiences for customers and team members.
• Ensure our customer digital channels are accessible and inclusive of all users.

The bank will be required to report annually on the plan.

Ms Mackenzie says as part of its approach, the bank was reinvigorating the way it addresses accessibility.

“This means we’ll be working to ensure accessibility is a consideration in all aspects of the bank, including from how we design our physical work spaces and access to our branches and ATMs, to the technology our teams and customers use, through to how we recruit team members across the business,” she says.

“To ensure we deliver on our aims; we’re creating a team of senior leaders across the bank to drive the changes we’re committing to”.

Report (PDF): ANZ Accessibility and Inclusion Plan 2023-2025

For example, the roll out of a programme to help provide the bank’s senior leaders with the right skills to support their team members with disability with their growth and development goals.

Ms Mackenzie said there would be an intensive focus on digital accessibility.

“Our latest initiative is the implementation of development tools which will test our digital platforms as we build them to ensure they are user friendly. For example, we recently launched Dark Mode for Go Money to make it easier to use for low vision users.

“This investment also includes training for our technology team members on the benefits of accessible design, and how to successfully integrate this into a more inclusive experiences for all users.”

For example, the bank’s development team are working on dynamic font scaling for our customer platforms, which will enable the ability to change font sizes for better readability based on customer need.

“We acknowledge this is not the panacea, and there’s always more we can be doing, but this set of commitments is a step towards becoming a more accessible and inclusive bank for New Zealanders.

“We’re committed to closing the gaps and improving outcomes for people with disability, both in our workplace and for our customers.”

For media enquiries contact Kristy Martin 021531402

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