Accessibility Audit for SEBI-Registered Entities

This SEBI accessibility case study covers the websites of SEBI-registered investment advisers, research analysts and financial firms that we audited, remediated or rebuilt to WCAG 2.2 Level AA and GIGW 3.0.

A SEBI-registered website carries mandatory disclosures, the investor charter, the grievance redressal route, research and service pages, forms and payment pages that every investor must be able to read and use. Many users rely on a screen reader or a keyboard, so the accessibility of those pages decides whether every investor can reach the information and protections SEBI requires.

Why accessibility is essential for SEBI-registered entities

In India, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 requires digital services to be accessible, and SEBI expects its registered entities to make their websites and apps usable by investors with disabilities. The Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and Apps (GIGW 3.0) point to WCAG as the conformance standard. For an investment adviser or research analyst the stakes are high: disclosures locked in untagged PDFs, or a grievance form a screen-reader user cannot complete, would shut investors out of essential protections.

Scope and standard

Each SEBI accessibility audit assessed the client's website against WCAG 2.2 Level AA, mapped to the RPwD Act and GIGW 3.0, across the journeys that matter for a SEBI-registered entity: mandatory disclosures and the investor charter, research and service pages, subscription and payment flows, the grievance redressal route, downloadable documents and PDFs, forms, and site search and navigation.

In India the formal GIGW compliance certificate for a government website comes from STQC (Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification Directorate, MeitY) under its Website Quality Certification scheme, which checks accessibility along with usability and security. Our audits follow the same checkpoints, so each finding and fix also moves the site towards that standard.

How we ran the SEBI accessibility audit

• Screen-reader testing with JAWS and NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, and TalkBack on Android
• Automated audits with Deque axe, Google Lighthouse and WAVE
• Keyboard-only operation of every step, with attention to focus order and a clearly visible focus indicator
• Colour-contrast analysis, plus 400% zoom and reflow testing for low-vision users

What accessibility means on each part of the site

On every SEBI-registered website, our audit focused on the parts investors depend on:

• Information and service pages need a clear heading structure and readable text, so a screen-reader user can find services without relying on visual layout.
• Forms and applications need programmatic labels, clear instructions and announced errors, so subscribing to a service or raising a grievance never depends on sight or a mouse.
• Documents and PDFs need to be tagged and readable, since so much public information is delivered as downloads.
• Search, navigation and any maps need operable controls and results in text, not by map alone.
• All content needs sufficient colour contrast, visible focus and clean reflow at 400% zoom for low-vision investors.

Services we provided for these clients

Proven SEBI compliance experience

Below are SEBI-registered investment advisers, research analysts and financial firms whose websites I have audited, remediated or rebuilt for WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. Each card shows the standards that project covered:

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