Paul Smyth MBE
Head of Digital Accessibility, Barclays
Paul began working at Barclays as a visually impaired accountant and has grown through the company to become an international expert and thought-leader on accessibility. In 2012 Paul became Barclays’ Head of Digital Accessibility where he founded the Accessibility team, addressing technological barriers faced by older and disabled staff and customers.
Over recent years he’s led on a number of firsts for accessible banking, including talking ATM’s, high visibility debit cards and regularly performing disabled user testing across the Barclays website and mobile app. In 2020 he’s been instrumental in re-vamping Barclays workplace adjustments programme to support disabled colleagues and in light of COVID-19. “As more customers now depend on doing their banking online, it’s critical that digital services such as cheque imaging are designed for each of us so that they work for all of us”.
He’s collaborative, helping roll-out staff training to 30,000+ people – shifting the culture from accessibility being perceived as a legal requirement to a commercial opportunity. Many resources are shared externally to help support other businesses on their own accessibility journey.
Paul sits on several boards and advisory panels for disability charities and in 2019 was appointed as a disability sector champion for web accessibility by the UK government’s Disability Minister. He’s also a chair of the Business Disability Forum’s Technology Taskforce, encouraging organisations to work together to make technology work for everyone. In 2020 Paul was awarded an MBE for services to disability inclusion within banking.
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“Many organisations are waking up to the multitude of benefits that accessibility brings – reducing legal risks, bolstering brand, improving customer experience and colleague productivity. It’s an exciting time for the next wave of disabled talent to not just be consulted but to lead the charge.”