Blockchain is not a novel concept in computing, but has seen substantial growth in scale and public awareness with cryptocurrency and NFTs. Though posited as a revolution and democratizing force in digital finance by its proponents, there had been little research to examine how crypto is utilized by disabled people, if at all.

If cryptocurrency is the future of finance, then it must be accessible for all users, regardless of ability.

Our assessment method was two fold:

First, I completed an audit of four major cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance.us, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Kraken, for their compliance with  WCAG 2.1 and IBM 508 checklist items.

Second, I administered a questionnaire to primarily blind/low-vision participants addressing their awareness of and experiences with cryptocurrency.

Both audit and questionnaire results showed a wide array of inaccessible elements and procedures among each site and crypto use.

Poorly-labeled elements were often the root cause of many issues, particularly for screen reader users.

Know-Your-Customer verification was especially difficult for blind/low-vision users, who had difficulty sending images of their IDs.

Disabled users often had substantial difficulty trying to access cryptocurrency, and many were discouraged entirely from using it.

Some relied on a trusted third-party to utilize crypto on their behalf, but were left feeling dependent on others for their financial decision-making.

Many participants who did not utilize crypto cited distrust of its proponents and volatility as a primary barrier, and felt especially vulnerable to fraud or being taken advantage of because of their impairments.

Much more work must be done to increase accessibility in crypto and digital financial services generally.