Credit Suisse aims to become the most accessible bank in Switzerland. Therefore the bank is clearing obstacles: Steps are being removed from branch entrances, ATMs are getting a voice, and applications and web portals are being reprogrammed.

Alireza Darvishy sits at his computer, an earbud in his right ear. The speed setting of his screen reader is set to hyperspeed. "Account & Assets", "Payments", "Securities Trading". With his right hand, Darvishy presses the arrow button and has the graphical links and the text links read aloud. The initiator of the Accessibility project, Darvishy is an IT specialist working in the Credit Suisse Center of Accessibility. He is visually impaired. He's in the middle of making a transfer to Direct Net, the bank's online banking solution. "An application like Direct Net has a substantial number of different functions," says Darvishy. "The only way I can complete the payment is if every graphic, every heading, and every link containing text is properly formatted."

Net Benefits

For people with a disability, an accessible internet means independence. But accessibility doesn't just mean autonomy. Hanspeter Kurzmeyer, Head of Private Clients Switzerland, also sees clear benefits for Credit Suisse. "Thanks to straightforward, well thought out internet services we are opening up new client segments. 

With regard to the demographic trend, sooner or later more and more people will be facing limitations in terms of mobility, vision, or hearing." When you consider that about 25 percent of the "Silver Surfers", i.e. those aged 50 and older, are online, it's this user group that will show the greatest growth in coming years. Credit Suisse is the first Swiss bank to make online banking accessible to all. And it's this service that earned the bank an "AA" accessibility certification (AA+ is the highest rating), conferred by the Access for All foundation in April 2007. The foundation makes its assessments based on regulations set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which was founded in 1999. Credit Suisse has been awarded two additional AA certifications since January 2008. The first was for the online magazine, In Focus. The other was for the Private Clients Switzerland web portal. Both portals were given an AA+ rating, the highest-possible rating in Switzerland.

Tip of the Iceberg

But accessibility doesn't end with the internet. It begins with a personal conversation. And also in the normal everyday things: withdrawing money from an ATM, or reading through the mail that comes in regularly. "Many of these services are not yet, or only partially accessible," acknowledges Kurzmeyer. But here, too, Credit Suisse is working toward offering suitable solutions. For example, comprehensive guidelines were introduced last year regarding the renovation or construction of branches and offices. The concept includes having flat-surfaced, linear entryways to all buildings. Also included in the guidelines is the plan to mount some ATMs lower, where they can be used by clients in wheelchairs. Some 18 such ATMs have already been installed, and more will be added this year. Talking ATMs, as they're known, are in the works for July 2008: Blind and visually impaired individuals will soon be able to get instructions acoustically – in German, Italian, French, or English. This is a first in Switzerland. The Contact Centers deserve special attention. For the deaf and those with impaired hearing, being able to get information over the phone isn't exactly a given. In this situation, Credit Suisse has to rely on help from a telephone intermediary. He or she translates the written or spoken word in the dialog between the client and Credit Suisse. This service has been available for almost a year.

Accessibility Begins in the Head

Much of today's world is electronic. Behind every service or product you'll find intelligent information technology. For example, when Credit Suisse decides to send bank receipts in braille, as it will beginning this spring, or reprograms additional internet sites, IT specialists have to first reconsider entire processes. That costs time and money. The task is clear: Every programmer, developer, and designer needs to be aware of the special needs of people with a disability and take these different requirements into account when planning new products and applications.

Interaction Must Be Learned

It's personal contact, however, that occupies the highest priority. "We regularly organize Disability Awareness training sessions," says Kurzmeyer. "Around 2,400 employees with direct client contact will complete this training in 2008." At these seminars, Centers of Accessibility employees teach important rules of behavior and point out ways that obstacles can easily and ably be eliminated.  Processes and infrastructure can't be changed overnight. But Credit Suisse is doing everything it can to move a step closer with each day to its goal of becoming the most accessible bank in Switzerland.