PayU has launched its Accessible Payments Checkout, a payment interface designed for people who are blind or visually impaired, ahead of Independence Day.
The launch makes PayU the first payment gateway in India to comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s October 2024 accessibility mandate, based on BIS IS 17802. The checkout is designed to improve navigation and interaction across the online payment journey, including for users with visual and cognitive accessibility needs.
The new checkout incorporates four key features: full-screen-reader optimisation, adaptive user profiles, visual inclusivity modes and text resizing. Screen-reader optimisation enables users to navigate payment methods, confirm transaction details and complete payments through voice commands without requiring sighted assistance.
Adaptive user profiles allow users to customise elements such as cursor size, button dimensions and navigation aids, while visual inclusivity modes offer options including high contrast, greyscale, colour inversion and saturation adjustments. Text can also be resized up to 200% without content overlapping or being hidden.
The accessibility layer is designed to work without changes to merchants’ existing PayU integrations, allowing businesses using the payment gateway to offer the accessibility-focused checkout to customers.
"True financial inclusion is only possible when every individual can access and use digital payments independently. At PayU, accessibility is not an afterthought - it's a core design principle. With the launch of our Accessibility Checkout, we're helping merchants deliver payment experiences that are inclusive by design while enabling millions of users with diverse accessibility needs to participate more confidently in India's digital economy. This is an important step towards supporting the RBI's accessibility vision and building digital infrastructure that works for everyone," said Manas Mishra, Chief Product Officer, PayU and Wibmo.
Prashant Ranjan Verma, General Secretary, National Association for the Blind, Delhi, said, “I appreciate PayU's efforts to make digital payments more accessible for everyone, including people who are blind or have low vision. I was able to complete a UPI payment independently using PayU's accessibility-first checkout with VoiceOver. I hope PayU continues to strengthen accessibility so that more people with visual impairments can transact confidently and independently.”
The launch comes as digital payment providers work towards meeting the RBI’s accessibility requirements for digital products and services, including websites, mobile applications and software.
