Financial literacy resources for people with visual impairment

ABC Life Literacy Canada has recently released three workbooks from the Money Matters financial literacy program in a format that’s optimized to work with screen readers.

The three workbooks, entitled Ways to Pay, How to Use an ATM and Understanding Your Paycheque, were created in response to a need indicated by organizations that work with blind and low-vision adults.

ABC worked with consultants who specialize in accessibility for people who are blind and low vision about what changes needed to be made, including:

  • Removing images that are decorative and don’t contribute to the learning
  • Adding alt text descriptions for all of the images
  • Including longer image descriptions for images that show something important
  • Removing or changing formatting elements that are difficult for screen readers to process

The updated workbooks are also in Microsoft Word format so it’s easier for learners to adjust to their needs.

Money Matters is a free introductory financial literacy program for adult learners that has been delivered to Canadians since 2011 and has reached over 73,000 adults. The program has three different series: Money Matters, Money Matters for Indigenous Peoples and Money Matters for People with Diverse Abilities. The program is presented with support of founding sponsor TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment, the Bank’s global corporate citizenship platform.

These updated workbooks are part of the Money Matters for People with Diverse Abilities series, which provides modules and a delivery format that is adapted to best meet the needs of learners with various intellectual, verbal, physical and nonphysical capabilities.

To learn more about Money Matters or to access these free resources, visit abcmoneymatters.ca.