SEBI Digital Accessibility Compliance Guide for Registered Entities (2025–2026)

A simple, point-wise guide to what SEBI’s digital accessibility circulars mean for you — and exactly what to do about them.

If you run or work at a SEBI-registered entity, here’s the short version: digital accessibility is no longer optional. It’s now a compliance requirement, with real deadlines and a real complaints mechanism behind it.

This guide breaks down what SEBI asked for, who it applies to, the deadlines you can’t miss, and the practical steps to get compliant — without the legal jargon.

What is SEBI’s digital accessibility mandate?

In plain terms: SEBI now requires every regulated entity to make its websites, apps, and investor portals usable by people with disabilities — including those who rely on screen readers, voice navigation, or other assistive tools.

A few things to know up front:

It started with a Supreme Court judgment on April 30, 2025, which held that digital access is part of the right to life and personal liberty under the Constitution.
It’s anchored in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.
SEBI then issued five circulars across 2025 to roll this out for the securities market.
The framework is now tied to investor protection — accessibility is treated as an investor right, not just a tech feature.

Roughly 16% of the global population lives with some form of disability, and India has over 26 million persons with disabilities. When financial onboarding, KYC, and trading happen almost entirely online, inaccessible platforms shut these people out. That’s the gap SEBI is closing.

Who needs to comply?

If you’re a SEBI-regulated entity (RE) with an investor-facing digital platform, this applies to you. That includes:

Stock brokers
Mutual funds and asset management companies (AMCs)
Portfolio managers
Depositories and depository participants
Clearing corporations
KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs)
Market infrastructure institutions (stock exchanges, etc.)
Investment advisers and research analysts
Other SEBI-registered intermediaries

In short: if you operate a website, mobile app, trading portal, or investor dashboard regulated by SEBI, you’re in scope.

The five SEBI circulars, in plain language

SEBI didn’t drop everything at once. The rules evolved through five circulars. Here’s each one, chronologically:

1. May 2025 — Accessible Digital KYC

The starting point. SEBI directed intermediaries to make digital KYC and account opening inclusive for persons with disabilities. The logic: if you can’t get past onboarding, you can’t participate at all. KYC is the gateway, so SEBI fixed the gateway first.

2. July 31, 2025 — The big one: Mandatory compliance

This is the landmark circular. It made digital accessibility mandatory for all regulated entities and set out the actual requirements:

Comply with recognised accessibility standards (listed further down)
Appoint a Nodal Officer responsible for accessibility compliance, audits, and grievances
Make digital documents accessible too — think tagged PDFs, logical reading order, and alt text for images
Treat accessibility as a system-wide, ongoing responsibility, not a one-time fix

3. August 2025 — Extended timelines and reporting channels

After entities asked for more time, SEBI extended the deadlines (the current, revised dates are below) and clarified who reports to whom:

Stock brokers and depository participants → report through stock exchanges or depositories
Investment advisers and research analysts → report through BSE Ltd.
Most other regulated entities → report directly to SEBI

4. September 2025 — Reporting formats and audit rules

SEBI got specific about paperwork. This circular introduced standard reporting formats and confirmed that audits must be done by IAAP-certified accessibility professionals. Entities must submit:

A list of investor-facing digital platforms
Details of their IAAP-certified auditor
Initial audit reports
Final audit reports after remediation

5. December 8, 2025 — Clarifications and a complaints mechanism

The final piece tied it all together:

Accessibility was folded into Investor Charters — officially making it an investor right
Investors can now raise accessibility complaints through SEBI’s SCORES platform, and entities must resolve them as part of complaint closure
Entities must submit a readiness and compliance status report by March 31, 2026
Audits must be repeated periodically through certified professionals

The deadlines you can’t miss

These are the revised timelines after the August 2025 extension, plus the December status-report date. Mark them:

September 30, 2025 — Submit your list of digital platforms (now passed — if you missed it, act immediately)
December 14, 2025 — Appoint your IAAP-certified accessibility auditor (now passed)
March 31, 2026 — Submit your readiness and compliance status report
April 30, 2026 — Complete accessibility audits
July 31, 2026 — Finish remediating all accessibility issues

After that, annual accessibility audits become part of your ongoing compliance.

The accessibility standards SEBI expects

You don’t have to invent your own rulebook. SEBI points to four established standards:

WCAG 2.1 (or the latest version) — The global benchmark from the W3C. It’s built around four principles: content should be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
GIGW (Guidelines for Indian Government Websites) — India’s own usability and accessibility best practices.
IS 17802:2022 — The Indian Standard for accessible ICT products and services.
RPwD Act, 2016 and Rules, 2017 — Specifically Sections 40, 42, and 46, and Rule 15(1)(c).

If your platforms meet WCAG and these standards, you’re on solid ground.

Your 5-step compliance checklist

Here’s how to actually get this done, in order:

Inventory your digital platforms. List every investor-facing touchpoint — websites, mobile apps, trading portals, dashboards. You can’t audit what you haven’t mapped.
Get an audit by an IAAP-certified professional. This isn’t a self-assessment. The audit must check your platforms against WCAG and the other standards, and it must include usability testing by persons with disabilities.
Build and run a remediation plan. Fix what the audit flags — design changes, code updates, and accessible document fixes. Prioritise the blockers that stop people from completing key tasks.
Set up accessibility governance. Appoint your Nodal Officer, create a grievance mechanism (linked to SCORES), and bake accessibility into your internal policies.
Make your content and documents accessible. Notices, disclosures, and investor communications need tagged PDFs, logical reading order, and alt text — not just the website itself.

The goal is to make accessibility part of your regular development lifecycle, so it stays compliant after the first audit.

Why this matters (beyond ticking a box)

It’s easy to read all this as red tape. It isn’t, for a few reasons:

It’s enforceable. This sits on a Supreme Court judgment and a complaints mechanism via SCORES. Non-compliance carries regulatory risk.
It widens your market. Accessible platforms work better for older investors and anyone using assistive tech — that’s millions of potential customers, not a niche.
It’s good design anyway. Clear navigation, readable text, and well-structured documents improve the experience for everyone, not only users with disabilities.
It’s an investor right now. With accessibility in Investor Charters, this is part of how SEBI defines fair access to the market.

Quick FAQ

Is digital accessibility actually mandatory for SEBI entities? Yes. Since the July 31, 2025 circular, it’s a compliance requirement for all regulated entities, not a recommendation.

Can I do the audit myself? No. Audits must be conducted by IAAP-certified accessibility professionals and must include usability testing by persons with disabilities.

What’s the single most urgent deadline right now? The March 31, 2026 status report, followed by completing audits by April 30, 2026 and remediation by July 31, 2026.

Where do investors complain if my platform isn’t accessible? Through SEBI’s SCORES platform — and you’re expected to resolve those complaints as part of closure.

Which standard should we build to? Start with WCAG 2.1 (or later); it’s the core. GIGW, IS 17802, and the RPwD Act fill in the Indian legal and technical specifics.

Final word

SEBI’s message is straightforward: every investor, regardless of ability, should be able to use your digital platforms independently. The deadlines are tight and some have already passed, so the smart move is to inventory your platforms, line up a certified auditor, and start remediating now — rather than scrambling closer to July 2026.

Accessibility done right isn’t just compliance. It’s a better, broader, more durable financial product.