The access to the internet banking services in lithuanian commercial banks for the people with visual impairment

Nowadays, all of the world emphasizes the integration of disabled people, bridging the digital divide, is creating laws of social integration and recommendations in which accessibility is one of the key points. This includes the accessibility of information - the right to information. Therefore, given the fact that: 1) the vision is the most important human sense and its’ loss impedes the access to information and to those services which are used by people without disabilities; 2) internet banking is an opportunity to manage personal finances from home, which is especially important for blind people with complicated mobility; 3) on purpose to reduce the digital divide of blind people a lot of recommendations, methodologies and tools are created in order to facilitate access to online information; it is relevant to find out how Lithuanian commercial banks providing Internet banking services are accessible to visually impaired persons. The aim of this master work is to analyze the access to the online banking services in Lithuanian commercial banks for the people with visual disabilities. The goals of the work: to explore an online banking service; to analyze the digital divide bridging opportunities of persons with visual disabilities; to explore online banking services accessibility to the blind people in the commercial banks which operate in Lithuania; to find out whether the banks undertake special measures that their online banking services are available to people with visual impairment. The object of this work is the assurance of access to online banking services for individuals with visual disabilities. By using deductive and inductive methods of scientific literature and information resources analyses, it was noticed that both Lithuanian and world banks’ websites do not comply with the wishes and expectations of consumers, because they can not find the information they want. Online banking systems do not satisfy the requirements of understandable and convenience of usage. So Banks, which seek to maintain their customers and to attract some new ones, should investigate constantly changing needs of the customers. There are lots of legal acts and recommendations regulating the integration of people with visual disabilities, bridging the digital divide and ensuring the availability of information, but it is important that the society should understand the importance of them. It is particularly important that banks, in the light of the fact that their on-line services are used not only by healthy people, but also by disabled, should ensure equal access to those services. The qualitative research revealed that due to the drawbacks of some banks’ websites and on-line banking systems conditioned, blind people can easily use only two of the five analyzed banking services. In the light of recommendations of the studied participants and continually testing the needs of existing and potential customers, the problem can be solved. Following a structured interview with the experts from Lithuanian commercial banks, it was found that the majority of Lithuanian commercial banks attach great importance to requirement research, analysis and satisfaction of people who have visual disabilities. In their practice, banks use tools to facilitate online banking access for persons with visual disabilities. However, the two banks providing Internet banking services currently do not apply to any complex instruments. It is important to mention that they scheduled these instruments in their perspective strategies