Digital accessibility for RAs and IAs
Your website, any app and the documents published on them must be accessible to persons with disabilities, audited by an IAAP-certified professional and fixed by 31 January 2027. We get the site and documents ready first, so the auditor has fewer findings to raise.
Research Analysts and Investment Advisers, individuals included.
To see when this and your other duties fall due, use the free compliance calendar.
- SEBI's circular of 31 July 2025 applies the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 to every SEBI-registered intermediary from that date. Where no Nodal Officer is named, the Compliance Officer or the Proprietor is the Nodal Officer.
- The standards are WCAG 2.1 or later, the latest Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and IS 17802. SEBI's readiness format asks for level AA on each platform.
- An IAAP-certified auditor is appointed, the audit (with usability testing by persons with disabilities) is done and the findings are fixed by 31 January 2027, under SEBI's circular of 30 October 2026.
- Compliance is then reported every year within 30 days of the financial year end, first by 30 April 2027. RAs and IAs report to BSE Ltd.
- The rule also asks for an accessibility grievance channel, accessible PDFs, a disability-status field on client forms and a human review before an application from a person with a disability is rejected.
- Run a first pass over your website, client forms and PDFs against WCAG 2.1 AA and list what fails.
- Fix the site: alt text, labelled forms, headings, contrast, keyboard use, captions. If we built your site, this is part of the build.
- Rebuild the research reports, disclosures and other documents published on your site as tagged, accessible PDFs.
- Add the accessibility grievance channel and the disability-status field with a call-back option to your client forms.
- Help you engage an IAAP-certified auditor (their fee is paid to them directly), brief them, and fix the findings on the site and documents we handle.
- Prepare the Nodal Officer designation, the sign-off and the documentation for BSE.
- Your website address, any app, and access to whoever hosts or edits the site.
- Your client onboarding and KYC forms.
- The PDFs published on your website or app: reports, MITC, disclosures.
Quoted on a call
We scope it against your registration, client count and financial year end, and give you a written price before you pay.
I am an individual RA with a one-page site. Does this apply to me?
Yes. The circular covers every SEBI-registered intermediary and makes the Proprietor (or the Compliance Officer) the Nodal Officer by default. A small site is quicker to fix and audit.
Is an accessibility toolbar or plug-in enough?
No. SEBI asks for an audit by an IAAP-certified professional, including testing by persons with disabilities, and for the findings to be fixed. A toolbar does not change the underlying page.
What is the deadline?
31 January 2027 for appointing the auditor, finishing the audit and fixing the findings. The annual cycle starts with 30 April 2027.
Do you do the audit yourselves?
No. The audit has to be done by an IAAP-certified professional. We prepare your site and documents, help you engage the auditor, and fix the findings on the site and documents we handle.
Want this taken off your list?
Tell us your registration type and financial year end. We will tell you what we would handle and what we need from you.
Sources: SEBI circular SEBI/HO/ITD-1/ITD_VIAP/P/CIR/2025/111 of 31 July 2025 (digital accessibility); SEBI circular SEBI/HO/ITD-1/ITD_VIAP/P/CIR/2025/121 of 29 August 2025 (BSE as reporting authority for IAs and RAs); SEBI circular of 8 December 2025 (readiness status, AA level); SEBI circular of 30 October 2026 (extension to 31 January 2027).