More than 1 in 100 people in the UK have autism. Autism is a spectrum condition. Some autistic people can struggle to access financial services due to complex information and jargon.
Today we have published an easy read guide on everyday banking (PDF), aimed at helping autistic consumers better understand financial services. We have developed this guide in partnership with The National Autistic Society (NAS). We are publishing the guide during World Autism Awareness Week, in an effort to raise awareness of the issues some autistic people face when accessing financial services.
The guide has been created by the winning team of our Chief Executive Challenge, our graduate corporate responsibility programme. The challenge sees each new cohort of graduates tasked with sourcing and delivering a project or cause in our local area. The project should align with our objectives, and deliver public value to the local community.
The team knew it was important to understand the needs of their target consumer group, so they asked them what they needed to build their understanding of financial services. They were told that an easy read guide would be the most effective solution to the difficulties autistic consumers face with financial services. After winning the challenge, the team realised that the guide could benefit autistic consumers nationally.
The guide is set out in an easy read format. Easy read is particular way of formatting written information, and is designed to help a document’s readability. It increases readability by including images that are relevant to the text, and following a logical and concise structure.
Now we have published the guide, the team will work with stakeholders, including The National Autistic Society, to ensure it reaches a wide range of consumers who can benefit from accessing information on financial services in an easy-to-read way.
For more information about World Autism Awareness Week please visit The National Autistic Society website.